Unlikely
by EmiG6
Summary: This is the story of Jane Daly- the best Finder the Order possesses- and her adventures within the story of D. Gray Man. PS- I am writing this as I reread the manga, so if its not eye to eye with the anime I apoligize. Eventual KandaxOC- but, I mean, its Kanda people, it always takes a while to crack his nut shell.
1. Chapter 1

Unlikely

This story is written from first person POV because I believe in the idea that I (as the narrator) am not all-knowing.

Note: This is the Prolouge- it is an attempt for the audience to get to know Jane a bit and hopefully develop her character- hopefully its not dreadfully dull (if it is, please let me know)- Chapter 1 will be up soon.

"Jane! Wake up!" _God help me, I should not have stayed up so late last night._ I thought as I rolled over in my bed, snuggly pulling the worn quilt over my head in order to protect myself from both light and sound. Unfortunately, my plan seemed to fail. "Jane, just because you can't see me does not mean I can't see you." Kierron chided, his soft accent rolling off his tongue.

"Uuuargggg." I moaned, pulling myself into a sitting position. Sunlight streamed through my bedroom, revealing six beds, already tidied, and a cradle in the process of being built.

"Breakfast is on the table." Kierron stated, turning to leave. " You get sheep duty today." That's right, sheep. While my dad does work in the mines, our family has had this farmland for generations- and with seven children in the family it's not too hard to manage- unless you have sheep duty. Sheep and barley, that's our business. It's no surprise really; most folk in Ireland tend to have one or the other or both- like us. My family and I live about an hour northwest of the harbor town Kinsale, which is along the southern coast. It's beautiful, lush, and green (very, very green)- and as much as I love sheep, I would often find myself dreaming of adventures past the rolling hills of Ireland.

"Aye, Ma, what's for breakfast?" I yawned, my barefeet padded against the groaning, wooden floorboards.

"Oh, dear, you 'avn't even looked at 'erself- No breakfast until we tame that creature feasting on your head." My mother said as she stopped stirring at the stove and hobbled over to me with a brush already in hand. She was seven months pregnant, but she still never failed to perform her motherly duties.

"Can't I at least eat? I 'ave sheep duty and need to be goin'- I'm already late. And it's not like anyone will be lookin' at me out there anyways." I complained, releasing an exasperated sigh. But nonetheless, I parked my bum on a chair at the table, and my Ma began the process of controlling my hair.

"Now, now- a bright red hairy beast will catch anyone's attention. Plus, you never know when the Whelan boys will stop by." My mother replied. Geez, my Da had bets on the older boy, while my Ma thought I'd fancy the younger. I love my mother, but I didn't want to be a farmer's wife- I had bigger things planned for myself. "Do I smell Guiness on ya? You havn't been hangin' around the bars again, 'ave you?"

"Course not Ma" I dutifully replied. I promise I don't go and get myself drunk- I'm far too good at holding my liquor for that type of folly. PIus, I go to learn. I can't be goin' around like some defenseless lil' girl now can I? I can fist brawl with the best of 'em.

When my mother had given up on my red, curly hair- stating that, "It must have a mind of its own today", I scarfed down a scone with homemade raspberry jam (so that's what she was stirring), and wrapped one to go before changing into my work trousers and tunic. I found the herd of sheep and began leading them to the next field, periodically counting them to make sure none had wandered off.

I saw the two youngest of my siblings, Liam was pulling on Miran's braids- until Kierron came over and scolded them for spilling the water in the buckets. Oh, Kierron, always the leader. The order went: Me, Ronan (who went with Da to the mines to help bring in some extra money this week), Kierron, Nessa, Niall, Liam, and Miran- and soon to be another.

I heard a sheep bleat from across the pasture and made my way over to it, and released it hoof from the crevice it had found itself in. I sat on a nearby rock, as lonely as sheep duty was- it gave me ample time to daydream. I never noticed the fraying edges of my tunics as the sheep nibbled away and my clothes- I only pat their heads and continued my fantasy.

A sharp pain entered my now conscious mind as I registered that a stone was just thrown my way. "Who's the prince this time?" Aiden yelled at me.

"Obvioulsy not you!" I called back. "I have sheep duty today, I cannot entertain you."

"Aw love, that hurt. Looks like I'll just take the prize then." He shrugged while approaching me, his dark brown hair framed his face and blue eyes. He was not handsome per say, but some would call him enchanting.

"What prize?" I asked, suddenly curious.

"Why the winner of the contest receives twenty in gold." He replied with a glimmer in his eyes, "Course, everyone must know by now that I can hold my whisky better than you."

"I do recall last time that you were the first to lose your stomach and I managed two more pints." I said, giving him a sly, sideways glance.

"I told you, I was ill that week!" He replied, his cheeks reddening in frustration. "Plus, I beat you at least five times before that." He finished smugly crossing his arms.

"It was only four!" I reminded him, "but like I said, I have sheep duty today- someone has to watch the herd."

"Scared." He replied.

"I told you…"

"Chicken."

"Aiden…" I growled.

"I understand, I mean, you are a sore loser." he said casually, and began to walk away.

"Ah, screw the sheep. I'm gonna teach you how to hold your liquor!" I exclaimed racing after him. Although I dream of adventure, my Ma was right- I did fancy the younger of the Whelan boys.

But soon that wouldn't matter. Soon there would be war. Soon everything would change.

But for now I was asleep on the floor of a train, only dreaming of the past. I felt a boot connect to my side and I instantly shot up.

"Get going, brat." The offender snapped at me, walking away, his long dark hair streaming behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1: What big eyes

"I said to hurry up!" the Asian man snapped back at me. I really was doing my best, he thought it was a splendid idea to use me as a pack mule- so on top of the normal transceiver box; I was carrying both pieces of luggage as well. I don't care what they say, chivalry is dead.

"BaKanda." I muttered underneath my breath, sticking out my tongue at him since my middle finger was occupied with his suitcase. That's right folks, lucky old me was assigned to be the finder for the lovable chap- NOT. I swear I will kill Komui- the bastard assigned me with this jerk of an exorcist because he knew I wouldn't voice my complaints until after the mission was complete. I try to be professional about my job, especially around Kanda since he likes bad mouthing us Finders so much.

"What did you call me, twerp?" He glared back at me, a vein popping on his forehead.

"Nothing, just lead the way." I replied with a monotone voice. "Butthead" I whispered. I promise I take my job seriously, but try to understand folks, I was just on the train with this stick-up-the-ass for a solid thirty-six hours. And did I get a bed? No- I have to keep guard so princess over here can get her beauty sleep.

"Che." He replied, and continued his way down the small German road toward the village we were headed to. "Are you gonna debrief me before or after the mission?" He snarled- I think he heard the butthead comment.

"They gave you a packet, are you incapable of reading?" I snapped back without thinking.

"Brat." He growled.

" I'm older than you." I mumbled before beginning, "The German town of Freising has been experiencing attacks from a monster that resides within the forest. It has already killed a child as well as an elderly woman who lives in the forest, though the bodies have not been located. These attacks are thought to be Akuma activity, seeing as the local cathedral is where an innocence is thought to be located. When we arrive we will meet with the residing priest and discuss plans for further actions."

"Hm." He replied and continued with his breakneck pace- I don't understand how he was going so fast and only walking. Our trip continued in relative silence until we reached Freising.

It was a nice little town, with two-story houses lining the streets. The cobblestone road was the main road that lead to the cathedral, and branched off into dirt, side roads. Children played in the street, chasing a dog with a wheel barrel, but were soon disbanded by an angry looking woman with a broom. I giggled a bit and heard Kanda 'che'. We reached the church fairly quickly and were greeted by an old priest, dressed in his traditional white garb.

"Welcome to our humble church." The elderly priest greeted us with a warm smile.

"Thank you for your hospitality." I replied with a slight bow. I set down the luggage and stretch for a moment, admiring the inside of the church. It was not grand or ornate like St. Patrick's Cathedral or Notr Dame, but you could tell it was the town's pride and joy. There were fresh flowers that decorated the end of each pew, and you could practically see your reflection in the floor.

"Our rooms?" Kanda got straight to the point. Damn, can't even give a girl a break.

"Yes, please come this way." He gestured for us to follow him. One nice thing about traveling with male exorcists is that the churches always separate genders- cause, you know, the BaKanda and I were totally going to get it on- NOT.

After I gave Kanda his things and was dismissed until dinner, I went to my room and showered. As I was drying my hair I took a peek out the window to admire the quaint town. Mother's were calling their children into bed, there was a bar or two that began bustling, and the church bells began to chime. It was a pleasant scene, one that starkly contrasted with the ominous woods in the background. The bells stopped, and I watched the rosy twilight turn into blues and purples. As a turned from the window I heard a howl that pierced the silence, almost as if it was an invitation for the night to come.

"Ms. Jane?" Came a timid voice from the door.

"Y-yes?" I responded, startled since I was pulled from my thoughts. I began scanning my room for my Finder uniform.

"Dinner is ready, it will be served in the main hall."

"Thank you, I will be down shortly." I replied, pulling my clothes on. Once I was ready I rushed downstairs and to the main hall where I spotted Kanda sitting alone, how surprising. The main hall was set up similarly to the dining hall at the Black order. There were several long tables with wooden benches to sit at, and candles were scattered everywhere to light the hall. I grabbed a bowl of stew and bread that was being served and sat across from him.

"You're late." He stated, not even bothering to look my way.

"My apologies if I inconvenienced your dinner in any way." I replied back, and began dipping my bread in the stew before eating it. Yum, lamb with carrots, potatoes, and onions. It reminded me of something my Ma would make, filling me with nostalgic happiness.

After a few minutes of silence I heard a "Pft" from across the table. I looked up to see Kanda smirking at me before returning to his food. Was he laughing? Could Kanda laugh? I doubted it, but decided the matter needed to be settled.

"Care to humor me?" I asked, ticked that he was mocking me in some way.

"No."He responded, trying to cover his smirk with his hand.

"Stupid BaKanda." I muttered.

"At least I don't look ridiculous." He replied sharply before standing to leave. I touched my hair, only to notice that because I hadn't tied it back while it dried; it had turned into a curly mass. My cheeks reddened as I searched my wrist for a hair tie. One came into my field of view, but as I made a grab for it, I realized that it was attached to a hand that pulled it back before could take it. "As if." Kanda snorted with a smirk before striding away.

* * *

"BAKANDA!" I screamed into my pillow once in my room again. That jerk, I heard he was awful, but I had never worked with him since joining the European Branch. He was worse than awful- taunting me like that after laughing (if that's Kanda's way of laughing) at my hair. I can't help my heritage- plus the my curly red hair at least has personality- unlike his straight, black hair.

I inspected myself in the mirror to make sure I didn't make a fool of myself again. So what if my curly hair was a bit wild? I do have to admit, it did look a bit silly. I tried to pull it back from my face, darn red curls, but realized why I left it down. Admittedly, I had a large forehead. Unfortunatly, it made my grey-blue eyes appear smaller. And the Freckles didn't help. Actually, now that I look at myself, I am the exact opposite of Kanda. He has straight, black hair, is perfectly proportioned (except for his ego), and does not have a single blemish on his skin. The fact that he could be considered prettier than me sent me into another fit in which I deemed it necessary to beat up my pillow.

"Ms. Jane? A-are you alright in there?" The same voice that came to get me for dinner asked.

"Fine." I responded with a huff before going to the door, "Is there a problem?" I asked the young church attendant in front of me. He looked about 14- like Kierron- but he had brown hair with a slight curl at the end and hazel eyes. He was starting that awkward gangly stage in life, but his baby face helped make up for it, I smiled at him.

He blushed slightly before responding, "You are needed in the main hall, miss." He said before dashing down the hall.

"How cute." I hummed, following his mad dash to the main hall. When I arrived I saw Kanda as well as the main priest.

"Late again." Kanda said as his eyes narrowed.

"Again, my apologies." I replied with a slight bow. Apparently I wasn't really late because the main priest had not begun talking yet.

"As we told you, the monster in the forest has been harassing this village for several weeks now, but between the time you received our report, it has killed three more children- young girls to be exact." The head priest reported with sad eyes. The young assistant beside him flashed a look of sadness before looking toward the wall.

"Have the bodies been found?" I asked, trying to piece to gather information on the situation.

"No, but each girl was reported as having a red article of clothing with them when they disappeared."

"Red? " I asked.

"Yes, red shoes, a red raincoat, and a red…oh now what was it?" the old man mused.

"A bow, a red bow." The assistant immediately responded.

"Yes, that's right, Lucas. A red bow. Its night so the monster will be most active, is there any way you could run a perimeter around the town to calm the townspeople? We already have established an early curfew for all children, but the parents are still worried." The elder priest requested.

"Fine." Kanda replied.

"I'll be there momentarily." I informed Kanda as he left with a grunt. "Sir, have you noticed any odd happenings around the church?"

"Odd happenings? No, I don't believe so. Why do you ask?"

"The presence of an Akuma here could be explained by the occurrence of an innocence." I explained. "If the church is not where the innocence is held, it is hard to tell why the monster would be targeting the village."

"I understand." The elderly priest replied. "But I am not aware of any odd occurrences. Perhaps Lucas could be of more help. But you are free to inspect the church as you see needed." He said before taking his leave.

"I also know nothing of these odd occurrences. The only odd happenings have been from within the forest." He explained. He still looked dejected, and I could only imagine it was because he was close to one of the obducted girls.

"Lucas?" I approached the boy. "About the red bow…"

"She was my little sister. I won't believe she's dead until I see her body" He replied, not looking in my face. "P-please, Ms. Jane, please bring her home." He finished, his voice wavering from his emotion. He sniffed and rubbed his face with his sleeve, trying to hide the few tears that escaped.

"I will bring your sister back, Lucas. But regarding my line of work I cannot vouch for her state upon returning. I'm sorry." I said, ruffling his hair before I looked for Kanda.

* * *

"We will split up, I will search the eastern edge and you will take the western. Make a thorough search of the town's defense and any locations of abnormal activity in the forest. Do not engage the monster, you'd be pretty useless anyways. " Kanda gave me a sideways glance. "We meet at the northern point of the town, Finder." We were at the Southern Gate of the town, it was night now, and the town sleeping. He didn't wait for my confirmation before beginning his inspection of the Eastern wall.

"Whatever you say, BaKanda." I replied, as I made my way around the western edge of town. The wall was a straight 7 feet tall, made with stone- a few cracks here and there, but pretty sturdy by my standards. It looked much better than the ones we had back home for the sheep, but since Ireland has no wolves, we never had to worry about something getting to the sheep. I noticed a barrel sitting by the wall and climbed up on the wall's edge to get a better look of the surroundings.

Tomorrow I would need to investigate the town some, and figure out what was drawing in the Akuma's attacks. If the church did not have the innocence, then what could drive the Akuma to target this town? I needed to search for clues of an innocence of something Investigating the house of the women who lived in the forest wouldn't be a bad idea either, considering she is the only one who does not fit the profile of a little girl in red.

After walked for a while on the ledge, whistling an old Irish lullaby my Ma taught me, I noticed how quiet my environment was. I had covered about 2/3 of my designated wall distance and quickly sped up to finish my last third. A quiet forest meant that prey were scarce, and that only happens when they run from the predators.

A flash of yellow caught my attention- I froze and scanned the forest. I saw the yellow again, this time I recognized them as a pair of eyes. I broke out into a sprint atop of the wall. I never thought I would actually look forward to seeing Kanda. The sounds from the predator followed me. I was being chased, hunted by something.

"Kanda!" I cried upon seeing him leaning against a building about two blocks away. Upon hearing my voice, his head snapped in my direction (probably to chide me for being late), but his eyes widened and he drew his sword. He began running towards me, shouting something I couldn't make out because the monster howled.

"Red!" I heard the howl come from behind me- I spared a glance behind me and almost screamed. A horse sized beast was hot on my tail. I tripped from looking back, it lunged, and all of the sudden Kanda was in front of me- his sword holding off the creature's massive claw. Now that I got a better look at it, I figured out what it was.

"Wolf." I whispered.

"Get out of here." Kanda growled. "I'm not babysitting you."

"Right." I huffed, scampering from my fallen position, down the wall and toward an alley. When I safely found a vantage point behind a dumpster, I saw that the wolf was gone.

"Get out here, Finder." Kanda called me back.

"It ran as soon as I left."

"Yeah, but I don't think it's an Akuma."

"It's size would suggest otherwise."

"Yeah, well, we need to think of a plan. First and foremost, we need to do something about that hair of yours. It's a target for whatever that thing was." He said, sheathing his sword and jumping off the wall. "I think we could just shave it off, that would do the trick."

"Haha, very funny."

"Not a joke." He glared at me. Well shit.

"Um, no. I'm not shaving my head."

"As a finder, you don't really get a say in this." He challenged me. He began walking toward the church, as if the topic was now closed for discussion. No frickin way am I shaving my head- I would worm my way out of this one even if it killed me.

"Let's think about this." I raised my hands defensively. "The disappearance of the girls is the only lead we have to the wolf- which also seems to be the only link we have to the possibility of innocence, since it's not in the church. Why not use my hair to an advantage? Like bait. You're fast and can keep up with the wolf- if I'm bait then we can find out what happened to the girls." I concluded, finally reaching the church.

"Fine, but I'm not busting my ass to get you back."

"Fine by me, I can take care of myself." I stated before entering my room.

I heard a distinctive "Che" before entering my room. It was almost dawn, time for bed.

* * *

I woke up in time for lunch, Kanda was nowhere to be seen. I wrapped up an piece of bread and swiped an apple before heading out to the cobblestone road. While munching on my apple I observed the quaint town. I saw a woman, sweeping off her doorstep, a man stepped up and pulled out a watch for me to buy, and at a distance I saw a pair of lovers holding hands. The girl giggled as the man pointed at something in a shop- a dress I believe, and then they walked out of my field of the view.

"Where do I start?" I questioned, looking for someone who looked friendly. I saw a person in a wolf costume climbing up a ladder to reach the top of street lamp. I walked across the street to see him adjusting some red streamers underneath the advertisement for a festival to be held the next week. "Excuse me?" I attempted to get his attention.

"Yes?" The man answered, trying to untangle the streamers in his paws.

"Have you heard of the abducted girls?" I asked, holding the ladder for him as he climbed down.

"Yeah, the whole town is talking about it. In fact, one of the families lives on this street." He said. "Just go across the street, there house is four to the left of that street lamp." He instructed me. I thanked him and headed toward the house.

"Is anyone home?" I asked while knocking on the front door. I was standing in front of a traditional English Tudor house, the mail seemed to be piling up and the windows needed cleaning. "Hello?" I asked, knocking again.

"No one's home!" I heard the distressed voice of woman cried.

"Um, liar." I muttered before trying my concerned citizen voice. "Miss, I know you are scared for your daughter, but I was sent here to help you get her back." I explained.

"W-who are you?" The woman asked, opening the door to reveal her frail figure with bags underneath her eyes. Her hair was a dirty blond in an unkempt bun, and a black gown draped around her small body.

"I am here to resolve the situation surrounding the missing girls." I responded, the woman opened the door further, inviting me in.

"My name is Heidi, Heidi Marth. My daughter was abducted ten days ago when she was playing around the forest with her friends. The children said they were playing hide and seek, and that they had just never found her." She went on as she took a seat and gestured for me to sit at her table as well. "When a search party went out, they found one of her black boots around the area where the children were play. But, they also found large sets of paw prints surrounding the area, as well as by her boots." The women finished before getting choked up, and took a tissue out of her pocket to collect her tears.

"Thank you for your help, Mrs. Marth. Was there an object your daughter had that seemed odd at all?" I pressed on despite the tears she shed, I needed answers.

"She has a stuffed bear that her grandmother made her, my daughter would go off about how it protected her from monsters at night, its sitting on her bed. I'm sorry, but I need to be alone, feel free to look around her room." She said before leaving for the kitchen, I heard a choked sob and sighed as I made my way to the girl's room. I picked up the bear and examined it, but it held no signs of an innocence- no glow, or green color.

"Thank you for your help." I said upon entering the kitchen. "Do you know where the other families of the missing girls live?"

"One lives on Baker's street, their daughter has been missing the longest." She said, dabbing her face with her handkerchief.

"Thank you for your time, I will keep you informed on the situation." I told her before leaving. I got directions from a kid who bartered directions for my bread, I couldn't manage to refuse.

"Excuse me?" I called, knocking on the door to a dull red house with daisies planted in the front window boxes. "Is anyone home?"

"Come in! I'm in the kitchen!" a woman called from the back of the house.

"I'm coming in!" I called, making sure not to intrude. "Excuse me, Miss? I am here to question the parents of the girl who disappeared." I said, entering the kitchen. The woman had slightly graying, brown hair pulled into a tight French braid, and was wearing a faded teal dress. Upon my announcement of an investigation , the woman's disposition changed. Her figure became rigid and her face gave off a cold aura.

"What do you want?" She questioned me. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

"I'm sorry to intrude. I am here to investigate the disappearances of the young girls, I was told your child was the first to disappear."

"Yes, she disappeared while taking some food over to her sick grandmothers. The cabin was empty when I arrived to look for her. I do not know where she is, as well as my mother." The woman's eyes looked at the floor. "Now if you don't mind, the festival is next week, and I am in the middle of preparing jam to sell. Please show yourself to the door." She stated flatly before turning to the door.

"One last thing, did your daughter have an item that was odd in any way?"

"Just the red cloak that her grandmother made her, she always said it could hide her from anything." The mother said with a tender smile, remembering the fond memory. Her face then twisted and fell back into its stoic coldness. "If you don't mind, please get out." She said before turning back to the stove.

"Yes Ma'am." I replied, showing myself to the door. The sun was setting, so I made my way back to the church to hopefully find some dinner before I left with Kanda. So one girl went missing with her own grandmother, and the other went missing while playing with her friends, but paw prints were found around the area. A wolf or coyote perhaps? But then why would the sick grandmother disappear? And where is that blasted innocence?

Too many questions with not enough answers caused me to unconsciously sigh. "No more thinking till I get some food in me." I concluded before entering the church. I was met with the sight of Kanda, arms crossed, leaning against the wall.

"Let's go, finder." Was all he said before we made our way towards the place where I was attacked the night before. So much for dinner, huh? When we got to the location, Kanda decided he would watch from the roof as a vantage and I would sit on the wall- as bait.

* * *

Hours past….nothing. not even a howl in the distance. I was bored, and tried my best not to nod-off (and hoping Kanda wasn't feeling as sleepy as I was). It didn't help that my stomach was growling, and that I felt slightly dizzy from lack of food. The sky started to lighten in the East, and I was losing hope. If my plan didn't work, I feared that Kanda would demand that I shave my head- I know there could be worse things done to oneself, but really? Shaving my hair off? I'll shave his hair off and see if he doesn't have a cow.

"Grawr." I heard rumble from behind me. I slowly turned my head, hoping the action would peak Kanda's interest if he was awake. Suddenly, I was pinned to the wall, and all I could see were the yellow eyes, staring at me. I noticed that the faint green also streaked its eyes- an ethereal color. The wolf looked down at me, its paws pinned my arms down to my sides, and it barred its teeth.

"K-kanda!" I cried as it howled. Next thing I knew, it had pick me up with my waist in its mouth. Its teeth were uncomfortable, but it was not trying to harm me. "Kanda!" I cried again, trying to make him respond. But as the wolf leapt off the wall and back into the forest, I never saw anyone follow me.


	3. Chapter 3

Special thanks to Ume Kanda and Emmerai for being the first to comment. After your review, Emmerai, I have spent a lot of time reviewing and anding scenes to the last two chapter- I appreciate your input.

Also- and big thanks to my sm-chan! She has been something of a beta reader and puts up with my nevrending texts regaurding this story.

Now grab some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the show~

Chapter 1- Part 2: What Big Eyes Indeed

3rd person POV:

"Anyone home?" the gruff voice pierced the silence of the cottage. "Well, couldn't hurt to take a break here." The burly man concluded before taking a chair and scooting it by the still warm oven. Someone must have been there recently; the oven's fire was fully stocked with wood and the room didn't have a speck of dust in it. After his long trip of searching for game meat for his family, the hunter was returning home empty handed. "Maybe I'll have some better luck next time." He concluded, rubbing his hands together in front of the warm oven.

"Luck doesn't matter." A little girl approached him from behind. The hunter jumped, surprised with the presence of the young child who didn't make a sound upon entering the room.

"Oh, is this your house, young miss?" The hunter asked, standing and removing his hat in front of the young lady.

"No, its grandma's. But she won't mind extra for dinner." The girl said, looking up at the man with big, glossy eyes.

"And where is your grandma?" The man asked, bending down to the little girl's level. She looked about the size of his own daughter, and couldn't help the wave of homesickness he got by looking at the girl.

"She will be back soon." The girl said, walking towards the man's hunting pack. "Whats that?" she asked, pointing to his axe.

"Its my hunting axe, I use it to help feed my family." He explained, using an appropriate description for the little girl. He picked it up and put the blade of the axe in his hand, showing the glint of the blade in the light from the window. "See, its sharp." He explained, slightly pricking his finger to prove his point.

"Its red." The stated dully.

"Well, it is blood." The hunter explained, wiping his finger on his shirt. "Everyone has it."

"Everyone?"

"Yep, it flows through your whole body. It's what keeps you living." He said, turning his back to the girl, attempting to warm his hands in front of the oven again.

"So the axe makes things red?"

"Yeah, I guess?" the man huffed, not concerning himself with the girl anymore- he just wanted to go home to his own daughter.

"Granny likes red." The girl grinned before approaching the man's back, his axe in her hand.

* * *

Jane's POV

I don't know how long the wolf had been running, but it seemed like hours considering my uncomfortable position. I was not injured, some scrapes here and there from running through the forest, but I could not understand why the wolf refused to hurt me.

What really bothered me was that Kanda was not holding up his end of the deal. If I am willing to stick my neck out there and act as bait, he better be willing to at least put forth an attempt at following me. I knew he didn't like finders, but I didn't know he was willing to sacrifice them to giant wolves.

The wolf had taken me to a glen, lined with oaks, but one seemed to be larger than the rest.

"If you're not Akuma, then what are you?" I asked as the wolf placed me beside the towering oak.

"Red is in danger." I swear, the lips didn't move, but I defiantly heard something.

"Um. Pardon me?" Did the wolf just talk?

"Red is in danger."

"I must be dreaming, I guess I really did nod-off back there." I concluded and began pinching myself to see if I would wake up.

"Red." The wolf said more forcefully this time. I looked up, and again, I was met with only the sight of its eyes and the streaks of ethereal green. "In danger." It chanted again once it had my attention.

"In danger of what? Aren't you the one taking the children wearing red?" Heck, if it could talk, maybe I could interrogate it.

"To save. Save red from danger." The wolf backed off a little now that I was taking it seriously. He tossed his head to the tree. I looked over, and back at the wolf. He gestured again so I walked to the oak tree and placed my hand on it.

It went right through.

"W-what the f-"

"Red inside." the wolf interrupted me.

"Um, hello?" I tried again, putting my hand in- this time it was grabbed by something significantly smaller. "Hang on, I've got you." I put my other hand in the tree and pulled out a small girl with familiar eyes and a red bow in her hair. "Are you Lucas' sister?" I asked, placing the small girl on the ground.

She nodded in response. Her hair was significantly lighter than her brother's, almost a dirty blonde, but they shared the same hazel eyes. She wore a button up shirt with a skirt and had on black boots. The bow held her hair in a side ponytail, she was no more than five years old.

"What's your name?" I tried again to get her to talk. She just stared at her shoes, pushing around the dirt on the ground with them. "Sweety, I'm here to help you. I know you are scared, but I'm going to my best to get you back home with you brother. Did you know he sent me to save you?" She shook her head 'no'. "Well my partner and I are here to get you back to your family. Are there any other girls in there with you?"

She nodded again. So I repeated the process of pulling a small girl out of a tree and found the girl with the red raincoat. "Is there another?" I asked, getting ready to pull out two more missing girls and a grandmother.

"No others." The wolf said. The girls, noticing it for the first time, ducked behind me to hide from the wolf.

"What happed to the three others that you apparently killed?" I asked, trying to solve this mystery.

"Not three. One. One red met danger."

"What danger? So far you are the most threatening thing in this forest." All went quiet, it was then that I heard a small sing-song voice weave its way through the forest.

"What big eyes. What big ears. What big teeth. Better to-see. Better to- hear. Better to-eat. Eat Eat Eat. Red. Red. Red."

"What is that?" I whispered to the wolf, picking up the girls who now willingly clung to me for protection.

"Danger. Go in tree."

"Not before you tell me what is going on."

"Danger is here." Right as the wolf finished speaking, another small girl in a red cloak with a basket appeared. "Get in tree, now." The curl had perfectly curled hair and wore a red cloak that hid her clothes. Her face was like that of a doll, it held nothing but an empty smile.

"Granny loves red." She said in a voice that dripped with sweet venom.

"Ra!" The wolf growled before putting itself between me and the young girl. I heard a buzzing from above and looked up. I saw a black winged creature hovering above the trees.

"Golem!" I hissed, attempting to get its attention. "Go-le-m!" It took notice that time and fluttered down to me. "Give Kanda our location and this message. 'I have two of the girls. The wolf is safe. The girl with the red cloak appears hostile.' Now go on." I commanded. But before it could fly away it was shot out of the air. I turned back and saw that instead of an arm, the girl with the red cloak had a cannon.

"A-akuma.."I had defenseless civilians with me. Not. Good. "You're going to have to stay in that tree a little longer, girls." I explained, and very quickly put the girls back where I found them. "I'll be back soon, don't worry." I at least attempted to comfort them.

"What beautiful red hair you have." The Akuma sang. I hid behind a tree as it let off several rounds of fire. Hopefully Kanda could hear the cannon fire and would know to get his ass over here. I peeked out from my hiding spot to see that the wolf was slowly deteriorating, and that the large oak was still standing, despite the fact the akuma was aiming at it.

"Come out and play! I love red too, don't you want to be friends?" The Akuma cooed at the tree.

"H-hey! Over here." I called, guess I have a death wish.

"Oh, oh, oh! Another playmate! Let's play tag. I'm it, and if I tag you- then you die."

* * *

Third person POV- with the BaKanda

"I sent that Golem after her over an hour ago, where the hell did that thing take her?" Kanda muttered to himself as he causually lounged on a roof of one of the town's houses. He figured the golem could record any information he would need to know on her location and on what the wolf was- then she could 'take care of herself' as she put it and hike home without him.

Bam! He knew that noise. Bam!Bam!Bam!

"Akuma." He hissed through gritted teeth before charging into the forest.

* * *

And now Back to Jane~~~

I ran. I ran and I ran and I ran. I could deal with the scrapes on my legs and face from the whiplash of branches. I could deal with the sensation that my lunges were on fire. I could even deal with the occasional blast from an Akuma's cannon.

I could NOT deal with the voice, the one that wanted me dead; The one that, no matter how fast I ran, seemed to sing right into my ear.

"Come out Ms. Red- don't you want to play?"It chanted. "I can't wait to rip all your hair out so it can be mine!"

I suddenly broke into a clearing, a cottage sat in front of me. Humans means possible weapons- which means maybe I could hold it off until Kanda got here. That or die trying.

I ran into the house, the door all but fell off, and scoured the room for anything to defend myself with. Seeing nothing immediately (besides a rocking chair and a broomstick), I switched game plans to hide-and-seek. I saw a small door like opening in the stone, and figuring it was a cabinet, I climbed in. It was tight, but hopefully that meant the Akuma didn't think I could fit.

"Cooooome ooouuuuuuut." It sang in a whisper- I might seriously need some therapy after this. "In grandma's house- that's where we eat, eat, eat."

"Oh shit." I mouthed to myself, I was in its freaking layer- I started praying that Kanda would somehow, magically appear.

"Did you know I didn't just eat the girl with the red shoes?" Her voice was close to my hiding spot, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. "I ate a man too, he had an axe. After that I leveled up, there is no way you can beat me." I heard a click by my hiding place. "And soon I'll eat you too."

Hot. I started to get very hot. As I began to sweat, I touched the wall and heard my skin sizzle. I realized I wasn't in a cabinet, I was in an oven. I rattled the door- it was bolted locked. I started using more force, desperate to get out.

"Uh-oh. Looks like you won't be alive much longer." She cackled. She continued to hum, and I continued to rattle the door, finding that the door was beginning to burn my skin.

"Finder?" I heard someone call at a distance. I thought pigs would fly before that man would ever be my savior- beggars can't be choosers though.

"Kanda!"I cried. "KANDA!"

"I get another playmate~" I heard the Akuma sing. "goody for me, everyone has red blood."

* * *

Kanda walked toward the cottage, if his finder didn't show up soon, he was leaving this stip town all together.

"KANDA!" He heard, though it sounded muffled, he could feel how desperate the cry was. He was already playing the image in his mind; the finder calling too him while in the grasps of the Akuma, only to be killed as soon as they saw him and thought they were going to be saved. It had happened countless times, that was why no exorcist should become attached to a finder.

Nonetheless he ran into the cottage to find….no one. A rattling form the wall caught his attention though.

"Kanda!" That defiantly caught his attention.

"Finder?" He questioned, approaching the oven.

"For the love of your samurai pride, let me out!" She cried desperately.

"Did you just insult your savior?" He questioned, liking his superior position.

"You ass! Get me out!"

"Try again."

"Kanda, I worship the ground you walk on and will never be able to attain your level of awesomeness." She rushed.

"And what was that about my samurai pride?"

"It is above all holies, even that of Lenalee's virginity, and is never to be insulted."

"Not bad." He smirked before undoing the latch on the oven. Jane came head over heels tumbling out, hitting the floor with a solid thud. As Jane lay there panting, Kanda inspected her. A bit of singed hair and some mild burns on her hands was the extent of her injuries. "Get up, you're not dying." He rolled his eyes, how dramatic. "By the way, your face matches your hair."

"I almost was baked in an oven, and you-YOU were, I mean, are a complete ass."

"Shut up, I saved you even though I promise myself I would let you die on this mission." He waved her away like she was a fly. "Where did I hear the canons from though?" He muttered to himself.

"That's right! The akuma was just here, she leveled up!"

"What!" Now she had Kanda's attention.

"She was saying something about axes before she started to bake me." Jane shuttered at the thought- almost baked alive. Kanda and Jane ended up going back to back, circling the room, searching for the level two akuma.

* * *

Back to Jane's POV~

"Maybe if I eat both of you I can level up again."Kanda and I both looked up to see that the child's hair had grown and was acting as extra appendages. She no longer used her limbs to move, but instead relied on her hair, she was holding an axe. "I told you the man left me an axe to play with." She smiled before lunging toward us.

"Move!" Kanda shouted, pushing me aside before drawing Mugen to meet the axe held by the Level two Akuma. "Get out." He growled. As I was running to the door, when I saw the Akuma's hair coming around Kanda's back- he was too focused on the axe to realize he was going to be attacked from behind.

I looked for something to take care of the Akuma's hair, but the only thing that remotely resembled a weapon was a fire poker. It had a fork pronged end that I used to tangle the hair in. I stepped behind Kanda, back to back again, and began to tangle the Akuma's hair in the prongs of the fire poker.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kanda growled, sparing me a glance.

"Returning the favor." I replied, skewering the twirling another lock of hair. No way was I going to let Kanda hold the whole 'saving me' situation over my head. Kanda and I actually worked together, he fought against the axe, and I took care to the hair the threatened to strangle us. It was like a strange dance, we didn't argue, didn't get in each other's way, and fought for the same purpose.

"Watch out."He said, pushing me out of the way again. The axe landed right where I had been standing, Kanda stepped on it and then lunged toward the Akuma's head and sliced through it.

"AARRRGGHHHH!" It let out one more antagonized cry before it disappeared, the purified soul left to rest in peace.

* * *

We were walking back toward the tree that I had hid the girls in, arguing as per usual. I was picking off the singed ends of the curly, red hair- Kanda was making fun of me, again. But I brought up the point that I saved his back.

"Hell, I just saved your ass, so shut up." He spat at me and turned toward the oak tree I lead him to. "Is the tree the innocence?" He muttered.

"I don't know." I sighed, suddenly tired with the day's events. I walked over to the tree, and put my hands through to pick the girl's up.

"W-what the f-" Kanda sputtered. He gave me the look that you give crazy people who pull children out of trees.

"I put the girls in here to keep them safe from the Akuma." I explained

"Che." Was his reply as he tried to recompose himself. I pulled out Luca's sister and placed her next to the girl with the red raincoat. I then proceeded to climb into the tree to inspect it for innocence. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kanda gave an exasperated sigh.

"Looking for innocence." I stated before completely disappearing within the tree. It was as if someone had hollowed out the tree, the area inside was not any larger that the tree itself. I looked all around and could not see anything that resembled an innocence. "Where could it be?" I hummed to myself. I looked down and found my answer. "Aha!" I exclaimed. I bent down and picked up the small flower, sprouting from the bottom of the tree.

"Oye, Finder!" I hear Kanda knock on the outside of the tree. "did you get the innocence?"

Wait…did he just knock? I got up and put my hand of the tree, expecting it to go through, but was shocked to find that I was met with solid wood.

"Kanda! I can't get out!" I cried and proceeded to hit the wood in front of me, hoping it would yield.

"Not the point." He said boredly. "Do you have the innocence?"

"You jerk! Get me out of here!" I commanded, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.

"Whatever." I heard him mumble before hearing him begin to walk away.

"I have it!" I cried desperately. " I have the innocence!" Even if I didn't have I would have said this so he would at least attempt to get me out of this tree.

"Stand back." He commanded.

"I'm in a tree! How can I stand back?"

"Not my fault if I gut you." He concluded before slicing away at the tree. I threw myself to the ground and covered my head with my hands. "Get up, you look pathetic."

"You could have killed me!" I exclaimed, crawling through the hole he had carved for me.

"Doesn't matter, you're replaceable." Ouch, that kind of stung. Did I not rescue two girls and find the innocence for this sorry excuse of an exorcist? Did I not just save you, did the fight together mean nothing? Replaceable?

"Where's the innocence?" I handed it to him, not saying anything since I didn't trust my tongue not to lash out at him. He stalked off, and I felt two hands find both of mine. Even if I was replaceable by Kanda's standards, I did save these two girls, and being able to walk them home while holding my hands reminded me of why I work for the Order.

* * *

After returning the girls home and explaining to the church what had happened, Kanda and I made our way back down the German country road toward the train station.

"W-wait!" I heard a small voice cry behind us. It was Lucas' younger sister- who I found out was named Mary. "Ms. Jane! Wait!"

"Che" Kanda said before turning to leave.

"What is it Mary?" I smiled at the young girl; she looked around the same age as Miran.

"I want you to have this!" she handed me a blue ribbon. "It's not red, so the monsters won't get you, and Lucas said you needed a hair tie." She explained. Aw, she's giving me a gift.

"Why, thank you." I replied before giving her a quick hug. "It's beautiful." I tied back my hair into a pony tail and flashed her another smile before running to catch u with Kanda.

"Maybe you should leave your hair down." He stated when I caught up.

"Why? Weren't you the one to mock my out-of-control hair?"

"That was before I had to deal with looking at your face." That jerk did not just go there. "Its ugly and covered in spots."

"They're called freckles, you jerk. And at least my appearance has personality, BaKanda!" That name made him turn to growl at me.

"Are you kidding me, you look like a country bumpkin. I can't believe I had to be seen with you."

"An' you think I want'd to be seen wit a wannabe samurai hoo looks like a woman!" I exclaimed back. Unfortunately, in the heat of the conversation, my accent slipped.

"Pft." He smirked, "You talk like a country bumpkin too."

"Least I don't look like a cross dresser." I said, crossing my arms.

"Shut up." He snapped before settling into silence. It was the end of a mission and we were both ready to get rid of each other. Too bad Komui had other plans.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you for the support Ume kanda and my sm-chan- love ya ^^. That's right folks, if you review, I will profess my undying love for you at the start of the next chapter- so step right up, don't be shy, and review!

Please review cuz it makes me feel awesome~ Plus, i feel like I'm slowly turning into one of those review crazy authors- oh the horror!

* * *

Chapter 2: The Moyashi Arrives

"Excuse me—I was sent here by Priest Cross Marian. I'm Allen Walker. I would like to discuss some issues with the priests." The white haired boy called out. We were all (meaning the science department, Komui, Lenalee, and I) in the science department's security section, since it is unusual for anyone to actually be able to scale the cliff that separates the Order from the mundane world below.

"Aw, can't we let him in, Komui?" I badgered the supervisor. The boy, Allen apparently, looked worn out and lost- it reminded me of my first visit to the Order.

"Not until he passes the test." Reever answered for his supervisor, monitoring the screen with his headset on.

"He has Cross' golem though." Lenalee pointed out again.

"It could be a trap." Jonny piped up this time.

"Hey, this kid says he is to be 'introduced'. You know anything supervisor?" Reever asked.

"Nope." Komui replied simply, taking another sip of his coffee. Him and his bunny mug, inseparable.

"Need I remind you that you also lost my letter in the mail when I transferred over from the American Branch?" I asked, glancing at Komui.

"That was an error made by the postal service." He defended, still not making eye contact with me.

"No, it was under the papers on your desk, you made me sleep outside for a week before you actually looked for it."

"Call it an initiation."

"I call it unethical treatment of workers." I grumbled to myself. Lenalee giggled and a few of the other science members chuckled. During my breaks I would normally hang out with the science division, I just tended to get along better with them than other finders. This also meant that I was fairly close to Lenalee since she was with her brother so often- though she is the only exorcist I am really familiar with (cause Kanda SO doesn't count).

"THIS GUY IS OUTTA HERE!" The gate keeper screamed, startling all of us.

"No way! He's an akuma?" I exclaimed, leaning in closer to the screen with Lenalee. The Gatekeeper went on about how this kid was in cahoots with the Earl of the Millennium, but the kid looked pretty confused too. The room burst into chaos as Reever was trying to contact the exorcists.

"Kanda is already here!" Lenalee exclaimed, pointing at his figure on the screen. And there he was, jumping from who knows how high, ready to dispatch an innocent boy with that damn sword of his.

"Hope he falls on his face." I muttered, watching him descend upon the boy.

"Oh, he's not that bad." Lenalee retorted.

"Says the exorcist- try being a finder. He called be replaceable! And made fun of my hair!" I exclaimed. Lenalee just shook her head; I had been non-stop complaining about this guy since we returned the day before. Once we had arrived, Kanda had stormed off to take care of the innocence I found. Do I get a 'good job?' or a 'way to go!'? Nope. A big old diddly squat. I turned back to watch the screen to see the boy defend himself from Kanda's attack.

"Hey! He has an innocence!" I pointed out. The kid had a silver arm with a cross on it- how could that not be an innocence? "Call Bakanda off! He's still attacking!"

"Now, now Jane. He could be an akuma in disguise." Komui speculated, the rest of the science division nodded in agreement.

"Idiots." I muttered, sighing in defeat. Kanda started shouting (big surprise there) at the gatekeeper who gave some lame excuse about not being able to see the kid's insides. Kanda took that as the initiative to slice the poor kid open.

"You should have gotten a letter from General Cross Marian, addressed to someone named Komui!" the kid explained, Kanda held the tip of Mugen in front of his face.

"Letter of recommendation from the general?" Kanda questioned. Everyone in the security room turned to Komui.

"You!" Komui pointed to one of his random underlings. "Go look through my desk for the letter!" He exclaimed, pointing to what was supposedly a desk, but just appeared to be a giant mound of papers.

"Brother Komui…" Lenalee chided.

"Supervisor Komui…" Reever chided.

"Idiot Komui." I stated before grabbing his ear and dragging him over to his desk, I took his coffee and shoved him into the mound of papers. "And don't come out until you find it." I ordered before sipping on his coffee.

"Oh, brother." Lenalee sighed, taking her place beside me as we monitored Komui, making sure he was actually working.

"I-I Found it." The underling cried in joy, holding up the letter for everyone to see.

"Read it!" Komui demanded, swiping back his mug from my hand. "Aw, Jane, it's empty." He said after trying to sip his coffee. I gave his a grin the chestire cat would be proud of.

"To Komui: Soon, I will be sending a kid named Allen over there. Thanks. From Cross."

"So it's true. Reever, stop Kanda." Komui ordered before walking over to his coffee pot for a refill.

"Clean your desk once in a while!" Reever called back to his supervisor. "Kanda! Stop the Attack!" He yelled into his headset.

"Lenalee, help me set up. A new member has arrived." He told his sister before demanding that the Gatekeeper open the gate.

Kanda attacked Allen again on the screen. "That idiot. Komui, do something." I said while monitoring the screen.

"Wait. Wait, Kanda." Komui spoke into the headset.

"Komui, what's going on?" Kanda snapped. If he killed a fellow exorcist, he was stupider than I thought.

"To put it simply, he is the pupil of a General. He is not to be harmed Kanda." Komui explained, he was leaning over Reever, using his headset. "Now apologize for the mix up Reever." He finished before walking off.

"Stupid supervisor! Don't try to shift the blame on me!" Reever exclaimed, too bad Komui had already left to give Allen the grand tour.

I looked up on the screen to see Kanda being hit by Lenalee's clipboard, and snickered, "BaKanda." I sighed, looking away from the screen. Sure, I loved making fun of the prick, but the thought of him brought up that damned word- replaceable. What bothered me most was the truth behind the statement- and I suppose that's why I don't get along with the other finders. They have accepted that their lives are replaceable, but I'm too selfish to do the same. I sit here and made bonds with the irreplaceable, the valuable, in hopes of gaining that value in some way; But in reality it does not change my standing within the Order.

"Jane, what's wrong?" Jonny asked pulling me out of my thoughts. "You've been sighing a lot lately, it's not like you."

"Oh, really? I'm sorry, I wasn't even aware." I stated with false enthusiasm. "I think I'm going to go to my room." To continue my state of depression in peace.

"Oh cheer up, Jane. We made you some new gear while you were away." Reever said, putting his hands on my shoulders in an effort to comfort me. "Come try it on." He tugged me over to his lab station. Since I was one of the few finders the science division actually felt comfortable talking to, I would periodically try out new equipment they made while on missions. The last thing they had made me was a set of boots that were supposed to replicate Lenalee's innocence in power. Unfortunately they were far too heavy for me to run in, let alone fight- needless to say I went barefoot on that mission.

"What is it this time?" I asked, spinning on Reever's stool before putting my elbows on the table, cupping my face in my hands.

"It's a project Jonny and I have been working on for a while, Komui was even helping us." Now this peeked my interest. Komui? Working? Yeah right, the only thing he ever works on are those dreadful robots of his.

"How in the world did you get Komui to help?" I asked, Reever in turn gave me a sly grin.

"You know how he fixes innocence, right?"

"Um, no? Finder, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah- well he uses these drills, which tend to shave off tiny particle of innocence- especially for parasitic types that can grow it back. So over the past year we have been collecting these particles and experimenting with different uses for them." He came over with a piece of grey cloth and unraveled it for me.

"You made me a cape?" I questioned skeptically, feeling the material he held out in front of me.

"It's a cloak, there is a hood." Reever pointed out.

"A cloak?"

"Don't question me, listen." He commanded, wrapping the cloth around my shoulders, using a small cross pin to keep it in place. "We were able to weave the particles in with the wool of the cloak, Irish sheep you should know. We tested it in the lab, and now it is ready for a field trial. I'm not saying to try and get hit, but this cloak should protect you from the poison in the akuma's bullets."

"Seriously!" I exclaimed. "That's so cool!" I exclaimed, dancing around his lab station with the coak billowing behind me.

"Dear God." Reever commented, slapping his hand to his face. "Would you stop that!" He cried, grabbing the back of my new cloak. "Remember, It cannot protect you from the impact of the bullet, but it will purify the poison they posses."

"Yeah, yeah- I'm gonna go show Lenalee!" I exclaimed with excitement before skipping out of the lab.

"That girl." Reever sighed with a shake of his head before going to tell Jonny plan Cheer-up-Jane had been a success.

* * *

"LEEEEEENAAAAALEEEEEEEE!" I sang merrily, skipping down the main hall that spiraled downward.

"Jane?" I heard her call out, a little further down than I was.

"Look! Look at what Reever and Jonny made me!" Once I was in her field of view I gave her a twirl to get the whole billowing cloak effect.

"They made you a cape this time?"

"Technically, it's a cloak." I explained, motioning to the hood.

"Um, cool- very cool."

"No Lenalee, that's not the cool part. The cool part is the fact that it purifies the bullets of the Akuma canons!" I proclaimed, taking her hands and spinning us in circles. "I'n't tat da greatest!" Lenalee giggled at the slip of my accent, and I blushed and turned away a bit.

"You're still useless." Came a voice from near the wall.

"BaKanda." I growled.

"You're worthless until you can defeat Akuma, finder." He growled, continuing his way to (presumably) the dining hall.

"I still saved your ass!"I huffed after him; he didn't acknowledge my proclamation though.

"Just ignore him, Jane. You know how he is with finders- it nothing against you personally." Lenalee attempted to comfort me. "Plus there is someone who I want you to meet."

"Really, who?" I thought I knew everyone in the Order- or at least knew of them. That was when I remembered the white haired boy who had been attacked by Kanda outside. "The Allen kid, right?" I asked as she linked arms with me a guided me through the halls.

"Yep, he's really cute- I think you will like him." She replied with a giggle. Oh Lenalee, she has no idea of her influence upon the male population, I thought as I witnessed several men pass by with a blush.

"Where is he?" I asked, as I was being dragged into unfamiliar territory. Usually only exorcists visited Hevlaska, with Komui being the exception to that statement. But Lenalee dragged me to the waiting platform for the elevator (if that's what one calls a floating platform), that lead to Hevlaska. "I feel Kind of awkward here, Lenalee. Can't I just wait upstairs?" I asked, shifting my weight from one foot to another in attempts to distract myself.

"Don't worry so much, they're almost here. Plus it's not like anyone is down here to see you anyways." Yeah, let's take a Finder to a specific 'No Finder' zone, cause that just sounds like a great idea.

"Now, about that damaged arm of yours…" I heard Komui say before he came into sight on the elevator. "Lena-chan!" He gushed, running up to spin his sister in an embrace.

"B-brother!" Lenalee cried before pushing him off. His face fell into a pout since Lenalee did not reciprocate his hug. "It's good to see you too." She smiled at him, and the man was beaming once more.

"Oh, Jane? What are you doing down here, this area is restricted access." His face turned serious as he looked at me.

"I took her here, brother." Lenalee explained for me. "I wanted her to meet Allen."

"I'll let it slide this time, but in the future you should refrain from entering this area, Jane. I don't want to see you getting in to trouble." His serious face started to fade. "And I see you like the cloak that Reever and Jonny have been working on for you."

"I heard you did a fair amount of work yourself to get the innocence particles. Thanks, Komui." I smiled at him.

"You're the best finder we have, anything to keep you around." He responded with a warm smile. "Allen, meet me in my office in half an hour to repair your arm. I'm off to go do some work." He said with a wave before strolling down the hall.

"Liar!" I called after him, making him turn with a sheepish smile on his face before continuing on his non-working way.

"You know my brother too well." Lenalee commented. "Anyways, Jane, I'd like for you to meet Allen, our newest exorcist. Allen, this is Jane, the best finder in the European branch."

"Hey, I was thinking that after saving that BaKanda I would at least get an upgrade- I'm thinking best Finder the Vatican has to offer." I proclaimed before sticking out my hand to shake with Allen. "Nice ta meet ya." I gave him my Irish accented welcome with a smile.

"The pleasure is all mine." He replied politely before shaking my hand. "I like your accent, Irish?"

"Yeah, though I can't say many wood agree wit ya." I replied, slipping into my accent felt nice. It felt so much more natural than the way I learned to talk in the American Branch.

"Well I say to keep it around, it fits you." God, I loved this kid already. We started walking towards Komui's office, but a beeping noise that came from Lenalee's pocket made us pause.

"I'm sorry, I was just paged to go to the training grounds. Seems like Kanda almost killed someone again." Lenalee smiled before taking off to the training grounds.

"Stoopid BaKanda, I can't believe anyone could ev'r be such an arse."

"Isn't he though? He wouldn't even shake my hand after we met, after he attacked me!" Allen exclaimed.

"Tat's terribl', ev'n after attackin' ya? On our last mission, I saved 'im when 'n Akuma was gonna git 'im from the back. An' you know what 'e called me? Re-frickin-placeable!" I exclaimed, getting equally as heated in the Kanda hate fest as Allen.

"He's awful, I don't think I would survive if I was ever sent on a mission with him." Allen said, shaking his head.

"I don' ev'n know how I man'ged to survive wit 'im." I replied, "I shoulda let the Akuma hav' 'im." Allen began laughing at my last comment.

"Maybe if we're lucky, we can be put on a mission with each other." He said hopefully.

"Tat would be nice." I replied, smiling, back at him.

"As glad as I am that you two hate Kanda and are becoming friends over the topic, I need to see Allen in my office." Komui said, startling us both. Apparently we had had almost the entire conversation outside of Komui's office- whoops.

"I'll see you later, Jane" Allen said with a wave goodbye.

"See ya!" I called back, racing off to the dining hall for some dinner.

* * *

"Stu-pid-Ba-Kan-da!" I released each syllable with each punch as I went through my morning training routine. Currently, I was taking my anger out on a punching bag. All of the other finders preferred to use our training facility at night, so by waking up early I could train in relative peace. I had to work on my strength, I almost died on my last mission because I couldn't open the oven door. In my defense, a metal latch is a bit hard to break, but I hated the fact that I had to suck up to Kanda to save me. I would train, and get stronger, and never have to rely on that jerk again. Just the thought of him mocking my face, hair, and accent made me want to use him as a punching bag.

"You okay down there, Jane?" I looked up to see Jonny smiling goofily. I smiled back and waved.

"Yeah, just a little pent up aggression."

"Let's go get some breakfast, before the line gets too long."

"M'Kay, on my way!" I replied before toweling off and pulling my hoodie over my training shirt. "coming!" I huffed, climbing the stairs to the ledge Jonny was standing on.

"I heard Jerry made scones this morning." Jonny said, goofy smile still in place.

"I bet a little birdie told him I just got home." I laughed, nudging him with my elbow. I really did love he science team- they were like my family in the order. They would always tell Jerry when I got home from a mission so he could bake me scones for the next morning's breakfast- they knew it was my favorite. It reminded me of Ireland, my real home.

"Well, they are your favorite." He said as we entered the dining hall.

"Jerry, I'm back!" I shouted into the ordering window.

"Welcome home, sugar." The eccentric Indian called from his station in the kitchen. "I whipped up some of those scones you like so much- here ya go." He said, handing me a bread basket full of them. "The jam is already in there- let me know if I'm getting close." He gave me a wink before disappearing into his kitchen once again.

When he says getting 'close', he means to my Ma's recipe. I criticized the jam he gave me the first time he made me scones, and ever since I've been trying to give him hints to see if he can perfect his jam to be like my Ma's.

"You're the best Jerry!" I called back before heading for an empty table. I snickered when I heard him call back something along the lines of 'Don't I know it'. Jonny soon joined me at the empty table and began eating his scrambled eggs with bacon while I spread the raspberry jam Jerry had made on the first scone.

"Yum." I hummed taking the first bite- Jerry was getting really close to perfection.

"Mind if I try one?" Jonny asked, already spreading it with jam. At least he asked, though I was so informal with the science team, it surprised me that Jonny had the courtesy to ask.

"I'll take one too." Reever said from behind me, swiping two scones from my basket.

"Hey, that's two." I pouted.

"You have an entire basket, suck it up." He rolled his eyes before eating one.

"I won't by the time the rest of the science team gets here."

"Good point, better hurry then." Reever teased. I swiped the second scone from his hand and stuffed it in my mouth.

"Ouvres ou wite" I said with my mouth full of food.

"That's just gross, please swallow." Reever grimaced. Jonny just laughed before finishing his eggs.

"Hey, there's the new kid!" Jonny pointed toward the service window. I turned to see Jerry fawning over Allen.

"Now that's gross." Reever commented before swiping another scone from my basket.

"Better gay than a scone-thief." I growled, Reever just rolled his eyes again before leaving the table to get some coffee.

"What did you say!" I heard a man yell from the other side of the room.

"Stop it, Buzz!" I heard another voice attempt to pacify the riled man.

"You wanna say that again!" Buzz yelled, obviously picking a fight. I turned to see a burly man with tattoos on his face yelling at someone I couldn't see.

"Be quiet!" A familiar voice snapped. I rolled my eyes, of course it was the BaKanda. "My meal tastes bad when you're talking about dead people."

"Is that how you show respect for your comrades! We, the finders, support you with our lives…and you…you… and you're saying your meal tastes bad-!" the angry man pulled back his fist to punch Kanda, but when he did attempt to land a hit, Kanda easily dodged his fist. Kanda then quickly spun around and put the man in a choke hold with one hand.

"Support us? All you can do is 'support' us. You guys are the ones who weren't chosen to carry the innocence. If you don't want to die, run away. You insignificant life can be replaces at any time." Kanda's eyes darkened as the grip on the man's neck tightened.

"You arse!" I exclaimed, punching him square in the face. Apparently his reflexes were delayed due to his murderous intent being focused on someone else. The man he previously had in a death grip fell to the floor, choking to get air. "I swear, if you don't shut yer trap I'm gonna kill ya!" I yelled in his face. His eyes widened looking up at me from his position on the floor, then they narrowed, filling with anger as he hastily got up and grabbed the collar of my shirt.

"I don't care what the order says, I'm going to fucking kill yo-" He was cut off as my knee collided with his groin. "B-bitch!" He growled, on his knees in pain.

"Don' you dare bad mouth us." I hissed. "We find'rs die to cover your arses- no matter whether ore not you des'rve it." I cracked my knuckles. "So tink befo-" I didn't get far in my speech because the jerk had suddenly lunged foreward and punched me in the gut.

"Think before what, bitch?" he growled, reaching to grab my neck. I bit his hand and he howled with surprise. "You vile, savage-"

"Yeah, yeah- we get it. I'm a bitch." I smirked, his blood ran down my chin. He grabbed my collar, pulling his fist back and I mirrored his motion- if he was gonna hit a girl in the face, than two could play at that game.

"Stop it." Allen stated, grabbing Kanda's wrist that held my collar with his cursed hand, and using his other to take my hand off Kanda's collar. "I'm sorry to interrupt you when I have nothing to do with this, but, I don't think this is a good way of resolving things."

"Back off, moyashi." Kanda growled.

"I'm Allen!"

"Che, if you Don't die within the next month, I'll remember your name. There are many that die here, like these guys." He said the last part while tightening his grip on my collar- I narrowed my eyes, ready to meet his challenge.

"How dare you attack a lady." Allen said, tightening his own grip on Kanda's wrist, forcing him to release my collar. Apparently chivalry isn't as dead as I thought.

"Pft, as if she could ever be considered a lady."

"Why you-!" I prepared to lunge at his again, but Allen held me back, increasing the pressure on Kanda's wrist to the point that he winced.

"Kanda! Allen! Jane! Komui wants to see you in his office for a mission!" Lenalee called from the balcony overlooking the cafeteria. The flames of our glaring battle dissipated and Kanda stormed off- aware that the death match would have to resume at a different time.

"You okay?" Allen asked, looking worriedly at me.

"Fine." I said with a sigh, rubbing the place Kanda had punched me- geez, he was strong.

"I'll see you soon then." He said, before walking back to his room to prepare.

I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder, I turned back to see a very emotional Buzz. "T-thank you." He cried wiping his eyes. "I just couldn't let him talk like that about my partner."

"I'm sorry to hear that about your friend, but please understand, Exorcists put their lives on the line with us- and what worse is that they have to watch us die and can't act affected by it." And with that, I left the now silenced cafeteria for Komui's office.

* * *

"LENALEE!" I heard Komui cry upon entering the room. "How could you get married without telling your own brother!"

"W-what?" was my response upon entering the room.

"You know the only way to wake the supervisor up is to tell him Lena-chan is getting married." Reever replied lazily, returning to his work station.

"All right, we don't have much time, so after you hear the summary, move out. If you want more detailed info, just read this while you head to your destination." Komui explained while Lenalee handed out informational packets. Kanda just snorted and handed his to me. I growled, but put on my mission face and grabbed it from him. It was then that it hit me- another mission with Kanda. I didn't pay attention to the rest of Komui's droning, I was just thinking about one thing.

Kill me now. I'm stuck with the BaKanda again.

.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not wn D Gray Man- all DGM characters and plotline belongs to Katsura Hoshino.

Thanks for the reviews- Ume Kanda and Emmerai! Hugs and kisses to each of you~ I know other people are reading this, because I am updated when someone puts me on story alert- please comment- you know who you are. Help me help you have an enjoyable time reading this story^^

On another note:

So, I was just reading a story in which in the author section, the author converses with the main romantic interest- calling him her muse~

Imagine Kanda (nosebleed, right?)….as a muse.

HA! What a joke!

Here, get this- Kanda, be a doll and inspire me, would you?

Kanda: Go fuck yourself, woman.

See, this is the thanks I get for writing this story- muse my ass.

* * *

I was currently sitting outside the train cabin that was occupied by Allen and Kanda. After a valiant attempt to make conversation with Toma (and failing miserably I might add), we sat together in silence- finders, discriminated from the train cabin, must stick together. I was a tinsy bit happy that I did not have to deal with Kanda, but I felt more angry with the fact that apparently only two people could fit in the train cabin- guarding the princess, again!

"Finder, get in here!" Toma stood and began to enter the cabin upon Kanda's call. "No not you, the red one." The red one? Is that how he identifies me? Despite my growing frustration at the exorcist I was supposed to 'support', I entered the cabin to see an exasperated Allen and a smirking Kanda- never a good combo.

"Yes?" I asked politely.

"The Moyashi requires your 'support'" Kanda sneered before returning to looking out the window.

"Yes, Allen?" I turned my attention to the more tolerable exorcist.

"Please sit, Jane." He gestured. "I'm sorry he bothered you, I was asking about the background of the mission- and all he would do was 'Che' at me." Allen explained, giving Kanda a sideways glance.

"Ah, a common symptom of stupidity." I deadpanned, Kanda sent me a fierce glare that I ignored. "What seems to be da probl'm."

"And you think I sound stupid." Kanda muttered in response to my accent.

"Don't mind him, you're accent is charming." Allen countered, I returned his smile, "Can you explain what the legend has to do with innocence?"

"O' course, an innocence is a substance tat has changed ov'r the years, from da time o' Noah to da present. In da beginning, it twas sunk at da bottom of da sea, but…As if da power of the stone lured us to it, we discov'red it. But its appearance changes every time, and it could appear out o' nowhere in any form. The stones always cause illusions, fer some reason…."

" So that means the 'Ghost of Martel' might have something to do with innocence?" Allen concluded.

"Yeah, "In an eerie place, there lies innocence."" Kanda picked up from my explanation. "That's why the church investigates these kinds of places, and whenever they feel that there's a high probability of an innocence being there, they send us in." Kanda finished. Allen and I both gave him confused looks, wasn't the reason I was invited in here because he didn't want to explain stuff to Allen? "I can't stand your accent." Kanda explained, looking out the window again.

"Just can't win, can I?" I sighed before standing to leave.

"I've seen the Ghost." Toma stated from outside the cabin.

"Care to elaborate?" I asked, opening the door for him- though he stayed where he sat.

"He's nothing more than a doll, the innocence powers its life force." Toma explained.

"Interesting." I commented.

"Hardly." Kanda huffed, I frowned, but held my tongue as Toma continues his explanation.

" The Martel is condemned as the 'land forsaken by God.' Due to the people's misery, they made dolls to sing and dance- distract them from their own hardships. Eventually, even the dolls could not make the people happy, so they moved away, abandoning the dolls. The dolls still move as they did before, even after five hundred years." Toma finished.

"It wouldn't be surprising if an innocence was used to create these dolls." Kanda commented. The rest of the train ride was spent in relative peace as I dosed outside the train car. Unfortunately, a familiar foot connected with my side to pull me out of dreamland. "Get going, brat."

Damn Asian.

* * *

Our group of four had been running through the terrain, towards the town of Martel since all transportation to the town had been cut of decades ago. We reached a cliff, and below was Martel.

"Shit, I don't see anyone." I commented. There was supposed to be an entire team of finders here, but not one was in sight. The town appeared as dead as it had been for the past several hundred years.

"Damn, we tried to get here as soon as we got their transmission, but they're already dead." Kanda pointed out, " Moyashi, I'll say this before we begin- I don't care if you're about to die, if you're a nuisance then I'll leave you behind. We are in a war, and there are always sacrifices," He shot me a sidelong glance, I narrowed my eyes at him, "So don't think of us as partners." He finished, returning his attention to Allen.

"I don't agree with your way of thinking." Was Allen's only reply before the explosions started.

"Keep shooting!" We heard a distorted voice cry. Below, we witnessed a clown like akuma order the surrounding level one akumas to fire at a glowing cube that was protecting two figures. Even from where I was standing, I heard the sickening crunch of a finder's skull from underneath the boot of the akuma. I took in a sharp breath, I felt a bit of bile rise into my mouth.

"That's enough." Allen growled before lunging into battle. "Stop it!" He cried as his fist collided with the level two akuma. Allen looked stunned for a moment, as if he had never encountered a level two before. His grand entrance was wasted as the akuma threw him into the wall.

"That idiot." Kanda growled, sneering at Allen's emotional outburst. I know Allen was pissed, but that probably wasn't the best idea- Level twos were leaps and bounds stronger than level ones, and they gained free thought as well as a special ability. My focused switched to a glowing cube surrounded by level one akumas- the finders must have set up their light barriers to protect the targets before they died. I caught Kanda's stare, "The barrier won't last much longer." Was his only comment before he drew his innocence, "Battou." He whispered to it, Mugen became unsheathed. Kanda set his sight on the level one akuma, I closely followed, ready to grab the dolls once the barrier was lifted.

Kanda leapt in the air, the moon glowed behind him as he shouted "Return of the apocalypse!" He released his underworld insects, and they destroyed the level one akuma.

I approached one the finders, he was rasping his last breaths, "You did well." I comforted, putting a soft hand on his shoulders, "I need the deactivation code for the barriers."

"E-exorcist…" He coughed up blood.

"We're here." Kanda said, kneeling beside me. For a moment, my hate of Kanda dissipated- even Kanda, being the ass he is, could offer words of comfort to the dying. The fallen finder knew that exorcists equated to hope, and Kanda gave him that in two words. "If you want to avenge your comrades' deaths, then hurry up and answer the girl."

"Ha..Have Hope." He breathed his last breath. Kanda immediately jumped down to enter in the deactivation code.

"Thank you." I whispered to the corpse, closing his eyes that were glossed over with death.

"Finder!" Kanda called. I jumped down into the crater created by the Akumas bullets, Kanda and I made brief eye contact before I scooped up the smaller of the cloaked figures and ran after Kanda who held the larger. Kanda stopped when he reached the building above Allen's battle with the level two . "I won't help you defeat him- it was your own fault that you let your emotions get the best of you."

"Fine by me, I'll catch up later." Allen muttered, picking himself up out of the rubble. Kanda, satisfied with Allen's acceptance of the responsibility, continued to flee from the battle scene.

"Allen, please be careful." I asked of him, slightly worried that the level two was too much for him to handle.

"That's my line, Jane." He gave me a weak smile before I began running after Kanda. I could hear the maniacal laugh of the level two akuma as I ran- it sent shivers down my spine.

Please let Allen return to us. Please.

* * *

"An underground path?" I questioned the girl in my arms as we continued to run through the city, away from the akuma.

"For protection from the strong sunlight, an underground district below the city was built. It's like a maze, so one can easily get lost if they are not familiar with the territory- but there is an exit that leads through the cliffs and out to the sea. Since the beasts you call 'akuma' can fly, I feel that it would be best to remain underground." Made sense to me. Kanda's golem began ringing and came out of the neck of his jacket.

"You keep your golem under your clothes?" I asked skeptically.

"Shut up, its not like it can keep up when we run like that." Kanda briefly explained, was it me or was he becoming for civil? "Toma? How are things on your end?" Kanda asked

"I was investigating from a different area. There seems to be a heavy battle going on, I heard a large blast, but Sir Walkers whereabouts are unknown. Oh, it seems that only the Akuma has come out from the roof- and he's trying to catch Sir Walker's golem." Toma said through the golem transceiver. Allen didn't make it? I felt my stomach churn, and my hatred for Kanda suddenly came back. He knew Allen was a rookie, he should have stayed to help him out.

"All right. I'll send my golem as a guide, so only bring Tim. We don't want to stay here much longer." Kanda replied, monotone as ever. "We need Tim's abilities."

"Understood." Toma replied before the line went dead.

"Only Tim?" I gave Kanda a piercing glare.

"Only Tim." He responded just as sharply, giving me a glare that said 'don't start this here'. He was right, this was a mission. I recomposed myself- I would search for Allen once we and the innocence were out of immediate danger. "All right. We're going to go underground, but do you know the way?"

"I…Do." The larger figure croaked.

"Guzoru.." the smaller figure called his name.

"I… have been living here for five hundred years, there is no path that I do not know." The man said, removing his hat. He revealed his face, it was deformed. Wrinkled and pulled tight, his skin looked as if it had been pulled over a mask of sorts. Kanda's eyes widened, and I let out a slight gasp at the man sitting in front of us. "Hehe… ugly, eh?"

"You're the doll? It's amazing you can even talk." Kanda observed. Still, I thought, if he was a doll, then shouldn't he be in perfect condition? The figure in front of us looked as if he had aged- which last time I checked, dolls don't do.

"Yes… You came to take my heart, right?" The figure asked, referring to the innocence.

"If it's possible, I want to take it now." Kanda said- straight to the point as always. I jabbed him in the ribs with my elbow.

"Have some decorum, would you?" He scowled, but allowed me to proceed. "I know this mess is a lot to take in," I said, addressing the man, "but many lives are at stake. And, with the akuma so close, it is imperative that we ensure the safety of the innocence."

"So his life doesn't matter?" Exclaimed the girl beside him.

"Of course it matters." My face softened toward the child, "a life always matters- but sometimes, in life, we are confronted with difficult choices-"

"This isn't a choice."Kanda interjected.

"Kanda!" I exclaimed.

"We are not going to sit down and have a therapy session. We are on a mission and we have the innocence. We need to collect it and get out of here." Did I say he was becoming more civil? I take it back, that man couldn't read into a social situation if his life depended on it. You can't just tell a man that we're going to take his heart and leave his kid friend out on the streets to die.

"BaKanda! You 'ave no idea how t' handle teese sorts of situations, do ya?" My accent slipped in my emotional state, how often can a person get angry at stupidity?

"And there you go again, with that stupid way of talking!" He exclaimed in my face. "We are on a mission!"

"Missions do not equate to heartlessness, Kanda." I scolded, recomposing myself.

"We don't have the luxury." He growled in my face.

"Gu..Guzoru's the only one who knows the way through the underground path- without him, we'll get lost!" The girl explained, stepping in front of Guzoru.

"And who are you anyway?" Kanda growled- his negative energy shifting to the girl.

"She was an abandoned child…I adopted her." Guzoru got out before erupting into another fit of coughs. Kanda's anger began to dissipate, the tension released.

"Sir Kanda." A voice called from around the corner, Toma then rounded the corner.

"I'm sorry, but we can't let your heart fall into the hands of the Akuma. You can keep it for now, but in the end, we're still going to take your heart." Kanda then turned to address the girl. "Sorry for dragging you into this." Kanda finished before approaching Toma, who held the reminance of Timcampy. I followed, but kept an eye on the girl and the elderly doll.

"It's like a mirror." Kanda commented at the reconstructed Timcampy's hologram of the Akuma. It then proceeded to show us Allen's battle- where Allen seemed to have destroyed the Akuma, but in fact, it was just a copy. Then a replica of Allen appeared and attacked Allen- the footage ended soon after.

"What?" I asked while approaching.

"Look at this akuma, he's backwards." Kanda explained, "Watch. When he took on the image of the moyashi, his clothes, his weapon…"

"They're all backwards." I finished for him.

"And see, even the copy that Allen destroyed in battle was backwards- And this fake had no insides, it was only a 3D doll." Kanda continued.

"So, this isn't just some "Copy" ability, he's using something to copy off of- and whatever he copies, he can equip and use it as if it was his own- like an exact physical replica- like a skin." I concluded. Kanda gave me a sideways glance, as if acknowledging that I had said something of importance. He then developed a deep scowl that turned into an aggressive frown.

"Damn that Moyashi for letting him steal his innocence." I didn't think about that. If we were to run into the Akuma again, then we would essentially be fighting Allen. Damn.

Toma began to talk about Allen, and I took the opportunity to check out of the conversation- as much as I would love to remind myself that we left Allen behind, I think I'll go check in on the girl and the doll. I turned the corner to see them jump down a hole.

"What?" I cried, bending down to inspect the opening. That was a long way down, but I couldn't lose them. I sighed, before jumping in after the two run-aways. As I was falling I heard a distant voice.

"They ran away!" Kanda was barking at Toma. "Where's the other finder? Where's the red one?" Again with 'the red one'? How hard is a four letter name to remember?

"I'll get 'em, Kanda!" I called from my continued descent, and the darkness swallowed me.

* * *

3rd person POV

"I'll get 'em, Kanda!" The two men heard from the stone hallway.

"She better bring them back." Kanda growled, frustrated that he couldn't pinpoint which hole in the floor her voice had come from.

"Sir Kanda, behind you…" Toma exclaimed. Kanda turned to see a reversed Allen.

* * *

Jane's POV

I continued to fall, but soon enough I saw the opening to the tunnel like hole. I knew I had to slow down, I prepared myself for the pain, and reached out both hands to touch the wall. I hissed as the friction burned my fingers, but my plan worked and I was no longer falling as quickly. I made a quick mental note to ask the science department to make me some durable gloves.

I finally fell through the opening of the vertical tunnel and landed on a pile of sand. I rolled to take away some of the force of the impact, but the landing still forced a groan out of me. I inspected my hands and grimaced, no broken fingers which was a miracle, but I had quite a few bloody stumps where nails used to be. It didn't cause too much pain now, but when the adrenaline stopped flowing I knew I was going to cry. I made another mental note to make sure if and when I started to cry over my injured fingers, that Kanda was not to be within hearing distance.

"Lala! Did your hand get crushed!" I heard a weak voice call out- I identified it as Guzoru.

"It's fine, as long as you keep living." Replied a softer voice that I identified as the girl that traveled with him. I peaked over a mound of sand to see the elderly man begin to cough up blood. Dolls don't bleed. The girl embraced the man and muttered something to him, her golden hair spilled down her back. Guzoru muttered something back to Lala, the girl sat back on her heels and began to sing.

_They made dolls to sing and dance- distract them from their own hardships._

"She's the doll…" I muttered, approaching the two.

* * *

3rd Person POV

"K-Kanda…" The wide eyed Allen replica muttered.

"It's a mirror image!" Toma exclaimed. Letting Kanda step in front of him with Mugen already drawn.

"It seems that we have an incredibly stupid one here…" Kanda said before lunging, releasing his underworld insects. The Allen replica didn't even attempt to avoid the attack, his eyes only widened further. A silver arm outstretched from the wall, blocking the deadly insects from their target. Allen himself then appeared from a tunnel in the wall.

"Ma-Master Walker." The Allen replica muttered as he fell to the ground.

"You are…" Allen began, but was then cut off.

"Moyashi!" Kanda growled. "What do you think you're doing! Why are you protecting the akuma?"

"Kanda, I am cursed with an eye that can tell people apart from akuma- this person is not an akuma!" He explained, kneeling down beside the false Allen.

"Master….Walker." The replica muttered. He turned his head to reveal a tear on his skin, the voice seemed to come from inside.

"A gap in it's face?" Allen questioned, tearing away the false outer coating to reveal a very injured Toma. "Toma!" Allen exclaimed. "That Toma behind you is an akuma!" Allen's warning was too late as Kanda was already being punched through the wall.

"Hya ha ha ha." The akuma chuckled, holding Kanda up by his throat.

"You bastard… when did you…?" Kanda managed to get out.

"Hehehe…When you were talking with him- I found the one named 'Toma' at the same time I found the yellow golem." The akuma said, delighted with his trickery. He began to slowly tear Toma's face to reveal his own. "I thought if I wore this image then you wouldn't notice- see you couldn't even tell the difference. And then I made him wear the image of the white haired boy, hehehe. My skin is duplicating paper- I really got you good…"

"Ha! Who would have thought she was right." He muttered before the Akuma gave him a deadly blow across his chest with Allen's weapon.

"Huh? Hurry up and die already!" The Akuma exclaimed- disappointed that his victim was still standing.

"Die?" Came the unearthly growl. "I cannot die before I find that person." But a moment later his eyes glazed over and his labored breaths ceased.

"Aha, ahahaha! He died while still standing!" the Akuma shrieked.

"You bastard!" Allen cried, attacking the akuma- throwing him into the wall. "Kanda!" Allen cried, shaking the man's shoulders- Kanda's shallow breaths could barley be heard . "He's breathing." Allen sighed with relief, he pulled Kanda under his arm- allowing his feet to drag. He then got Toma and threw him over his shoulder. He decided fleeing while the akuma was down and regrouping would be the best choice of action.

An eerie lullaby filled the cavern. "A song?" Allen muttered. He followed the voice through the cavern.

* * *

Jane's POV

"Are you crying, Lala?" Guzuro croaked. I sat on a nearby pillar, monitoring their exchange, but giving them some privacy.

"That's a strange question to ask, Guzoru." Lala responded.

"I can hear something…something like sadness…" The man muttered.

"Am I a doll?" Their conversation seemed to be getting personal- so I decided to get up and take a look around the perimeter. I had walked around three quarters of the room before I caught sight of Allen carrying in Toma and Kanda.

"Allen, what happened?" I called, running over to him. He hastily dropped both men and lunged for me- pulling me out of the path of the pillar that landed where I had stood. "Wh-what?" I exclaimed.

"Sorry bout this, Jane."He muttered before throwing me across the room, towards the unconscious men.

"Allen!" I cried before colliding with a pile of sand. I spit sand out of my mouth, and shook my hair- knowing it was a futile attempt of getting the sand out. I turned back to see that Allen had caught a pillar Lala had thrown at him. He took it and knocked down the pillars standing behind the small girl, removing any of the possible weapons from the girl's arsenal. I gawked, their strength was truly unworldly. They had just chucked a couple of pillars around like it was no big deal, and were even exchanging pleasantries now. I sighed, my attention soon taken by the two unconscious men beside me.

Allen came over and helped be relocate them to a more secluded part of the underground cavern where Lala and Gozuro waited. He removed his exorcist cloak, and put it under Kanda's head, before continuing his conversation with the doll.

"You alright, Toma?" I asked, seeing as the man was beginning to regain consciousness.

"Fine, I'll take care of myself- you help Sir Kanda." The man replied as he began to evaluate and dress his own wounds. I nodded in confirmation before addressing the mess in front of me. The long gash running down his chest needed the most attention- so I took off his jacket and began to care for his wound with the supplies in my Finder Kit. I sanitized it, and took advantage of the fact he was unconscious by suturing the gaping wound closed. I then wrapped a tight bandage around his chest- hoping that when he woke, it would make moving difficult so his wound wouldn't reopen.

While dressing his wounds I had listened to Lala's story. She was an abandoned doll, but Gozuro gave her a feeling of purpose. Being abandoned himself due to his ugly appearance, he stayed with Lala – they gave each other a purpose to live. "Let me be with him until the end." Lala mumbled, but gaining more confidence from her desperation, her voice gained volume, "Let me stay with him until the end! Please!" She begged.

"No!" I heard a haggard voice call from beside me. "Wait until the old man dies…? We can't grant this wish… We came here to protect the innocence! Take that doll's heart now!" Kanda ordered- so much for being asleep. Allen hesitated, but that only seemed to rile Kanda up more. "What did we come here for?"

"I can't do it." Allen stated firmly, any hesitation he previously felt vanished. "Sorry, I just can't do it."

Kanda threw Allen's coat at him. "That coat isn't a pillow for the wounded- It's the uniform of an exorcist! There are sacrifices that must be made, rookie."

"Please!" Lala exclaimed. "Don't take it!"

"Stop." Gozuro ordered, shielding the doll from Mugen's point with his arms. I didn't even see Kanda draw his sword, so much for those bandages slowing him down.

Allen stepped in front of Mugen, "Then I will be the one! Will it be enough if I am the 'sacrifice' for these two?"

"Allen…" I muttered, approaching the boy, "Please, we need this innocence."

"No, I will protect it from the Akuma- then there is no problem, right?" Kanda punched him, but the force of the blow caused his injured body to fall over with Allen.

"Master Kanda!" Toma exclaimed, standing from his position.

"BaKanda." I muttered into my hand before kneeling beside him. "Was that really necessary?"

"Stay out of this, Finder!" He growled at me, I sighed in resignation, but remained by his side. Stupid, injured, pain in the ass. "How incredibly naïve…Selling yourself out for some pitiful strangers?" He continued, directing his rage toward Allen. "Isn't anything important to you!"

"There was something important… I lost it long ago. It's pitiful, I don't have a noble reason- I just don't want to see something like this happen. That's all. Because I am a small man, my heart is moved by what's in front of my eyes, not by what the world needs. I just can't abandon what's there in front of me. " Allen finished his monologue with a solemn, distant look on his face, while Poor Kanda just looked befuddled. "I want to protect everything I can!" He finished.

"Allen, you are a terrible liar. You certainly have a big heart if you consider yourself a small man." I mused at him. "And you make a terrible exorcist." He gave me a small grin of understanding- I was on his side. I stood and made my way over to Lala, sitting beside her. "I will also be a sacrifice." I stated, giving Allen a warm smile.

"Che, you already are one." Kanda muttered, I stopped smiling. No one made a comment to correct him, he was right.

"You should thank Allen." I told Lala, "Otherwise Kanda probably would have gotten his way."

But before she could respond, her eyes widened, and the wall behind us exploded. A hook pierced both her and Gozuro's bodies, and as they reached out, I grabbed Lala's arm and was pulled through the wall with them.

"I got the innocence!" The level two akuma chuckled as he removed the innocence from Lala's chest.

"No!" I cried, still dangling from Lala's now lifeless arm.

* * *

3rd Person POV

"Ne, ne. I missed skewering one." The level two Akuma snickered, referring to Jane. Before he could attempt attacking again, Jane had swung from Lala's arm to the innocence held by the Akuma's claw. She dangled from her grip on the innocence, attempting to pry it from the akuma's grasp."I don't think so girl!" he howled, swinging his claw. Jane lost hold of the innocence and flew across the cavern, hitting the stone wall with a sickening thud before collapsing to the ground, blood pooling around her head.

"Jane!" Allen cried. But the girl did not get up.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you Ume Kanda (For pushing me to update) as well as DecayOfTime and MusicBox-ForYue for their support-Oh, as well as the anonymous reviewer! Thank you all, love you bunches!

Another special thanks to Kanda! Because without him this story wouldn't exist! Though I do have a confession to make- I'm starting to really like Allen too (he might get his own story)

Kanda: What the fuck did you say, woman?

Allen deserves his own story; he's way more loveable than you.

Kanda: Who gives a shit about loveable? The Moyashi has nothing on me.

I can't argue with that sexy smirk- please enjoy this story!

* * *

"You useless idiot…What do you think you're doing, running out of power at the last minute!"

_Wha…oh Lord almighty, make the noise stop._

"You were the bastard that babbled on about protecting those two!"

_Make the BaKanda shut up….._My head was pounding, and all of that noise coming from stupid over there was not helping my situation. I groaned, bringing my head to my hand, feeling a sticky substance in my hair and a bandage around my forehead. "Where am I?" I moaned, hoping someone would be close enough to answer me.

"Oh, Miss Daly! I'm glad you're awake." I heard a voice say from beside me. I know they were just talking, but it sounded muffled and loud.

"Who's there?"I groaned, rolling my head to see someone in a finder's uniform seated by me.

"It's Toma, can you see? You got a concussion after being thrown into the wall. Please stay still, Miss Daly." Toma said, giving me his full attention as I tried to sit up.

"I hate the way naïve people like you do things…and even more so, I hate people who don't keep their promises." I heard Kanda growl. When I looked up, I saw that he was defending Allen from the Akuma's claw.

"What's going on? Kanda shouldn't be moving." I muttered, holding my head in my hand.

"It's alright Miss Daly, please don't stress out over the situation. You need rest." Toma explained, helping me lean against the stone wall. "After the Akuma threw you across the cavern, Sir Walker attacked it with his newly evolved innocence. Sir Kanda then retrieved you while the Akuma was distracted, and now he is defending Sir Walker against the Akuma's attack."

"Everything you do is irritating." I heard Kanda growl at Allen. My hearing was beginning to adjust, things didn't seem so muffled anymore, and the volume was also reaching normal. I gasped as Kanda sliced the Akuma's arm clear off, and Allen activated his evolved canon like innocence.

"Scatter!" Allen and Kanda cried before releasing the wrath of their innocence on the Akuma.

"Exorcist…"The Akuma cried as it dissipated. Kanda and Allen collapsed side by side, the innocence fell between them. Allen reached out toward it.

"Please live….once more…for Lala's sake." Allen muttered before his hand collapsed as he faded into unconsciousness.

"I'm feeling better, Toma." I said as I stood.

"You shouldn't be moving, Miss Daly. You have a severe head injury." Toma fretted, trying to help he stay balanced while walking towards the two unconscious exorcists.

"I promised that Lala would stay with Guzoru until the end- Allen and I promised to be the sacrifices, I need to do this." I concluded before pulling away from Toma's grip. I kneeled down and collected the innocence, then I walked over to the doll's lifeless body. "Please work." I whispered as I put the innocence into her chest. A moment later, her eyes blinked.

"Ne, ne. Can I sing for you?" She asked me in a mechanical voice. I stiffened; the doll was no longer Lala.

"Can you sing for the man, over there?" I pointed to Guzoru. The doll approached the Guzoru, and sat by him.

"Can I sing for you mister?" Lala asked him. I heard Guzoru mutter something.

"Are you asleep, mister? I'll sing a lullaby then!" It was a slow lullaby, a song for the dead.

"Are you alright, Miss Daly?" Toma approached my kneeling form. "It's not your fault; we all should have been prepared for the akuma."

"I didn't keep my promise…That's not Lala." I choked out. I felt wetness on my cheeks, and knew I was crying .

"Let's get going , Miss Daly. Sir Walker and Sir Kanda need medical attention." Toma said, returning to the two exorcists.

"I'm sorry." I let out one last choked sob, but the tears didn't stop. Funny thing is, my fingers didn't hurt at all.

* * *

I was sitting in the hospital bed, fiddling with my bandaged fingers. The Doctor said they would be fine once they scabbed and toughened up a bit- but until then they would be sore. His main concern was my concussion, which although I felt fine, he was sure I should stay in bed for the next month. Like I have time for that.

"Miss Daly? How are you feeling?" Toma asked, opening the door to my room.

"Fine, thanks for asking." I replied with a smile. Toma had been working hard over the past couple days to keep me company while making sure Kanda didn't kill any of the medical staff- I had a newfound admiration for the man. "How's Kanda?'

"Fine, his wounds have fully healed and he is going now to pick up Sir Walker." Toma explained sitting on the chair next to my bed. "He said Komui wishes to speak with you."

"Right, I'll ca- wait…His wounds are fully healed?" I asked, astonished. I had heard Kanda had amazing healing abilities, but it was another thing to dress his potentially fatal wounds and then have them be completely healed within three days.

"Yes, I am meeting up with Sir Walker after Sir Kanda has passed along a message from Komui to him. We are headed back to the Order. It appears you and Sir Kanda are to remain in the field. I'll be going now." Toma finished, exiting the room.

"Course we are." I sighed. I got out of bed to get dressed to call Komui form my transceiver box.

"European Branch, Science Division, Wenhamm speaking." The voice on the other end of the line sounded worn down, like he had too many nights without sleep.

"Hey Reever, sounds like you could use some more coffee- how did you get stuck on phone duty?" I asked, usually that was a newbie job.

"Kanda is still using the main transceiver line, I'm just working the flow through until the newbies get back from a coffee run."

"Gotcha, well, what did Komui what to tell me?"

"Ah, he's almost done- I'll let him tell you. How was the mission, I heard you got a bad hit to the head."

"Yeah, my head's okay- but I could use a pair of gloves- I lost a new finger nails to a wall."

"Eww. I'll tell 65 to get on that."

"Did you just 'eww' me?" I chuckled.

"Maybe." Reever hummed, "Anyways, did the cloak work?"

"Can't say I got a chance to try it."

"Alright. Oh, Komui's done on Kanda's line- here he comes."

"JAAAAAANEEEE~" Komui sang into the phone line. I pulled the phone away from my ear and grimaced- someone had way too much coffee.

"Hello Komui, you wanted to talk with me?"

"Yes, yes. How are you enjoying Italy?" He gushed. "Oh, the blue coast, and salty breeze~ how I wish I could join you!"

"Komui, why did you need to talk with me?" I sighed, trying to reign in his energy.

"Just to keep you in the loop- you will be remaining in the field!"

"You say that like it's a good thing." I sighed, suddenly tired.

"I know, two missions in a row is a lot. We have many finders deployed right now, and you are one of the best we have. But fortunately for this next one you will be meeting up with two other exorcists. So with three exorcists, you shouldn't have to participate in battle."

"Three exorcists? Allen's coming?"

"No, not Allen." He said hesitating.

"No Komui- I refuse. I am always professional when it comes to missions- but this is too much. This will be the third mission in a row that you have forced me to work with him." I said firmly.

"I was just on the phone line with him."

"Um, I know."

"He requested you."

"I will not- wait… he what?"

"He requested you- he said he preferred you to any of my other available finders ready for deployment."

"W-why?" I was sure that the man hated me, Komui must be lying.

"He said even if you were a 'troublesome, stupid, pigheaded bitch'- direct quote by the way- you are also the most competent finder he's ever worked with and you don't die easily." Not the best compliment , the whole not dying easily, but he called me competent? A compliment-No, not from Kanda. But there was a long list of insults before the compliment- and that defiantly sounded like Kanda. Maybe he was starting to appreciate me …

* * *

At the Science Department:

"So, what does this mission entail?" Jane asked from the other end. Komui gave everyone in the science department an enthusiastic thumbs up- his plan had worked.

"It's in northern Italy, so you won't even have to travel that far. You and Kanda will meet up with the Bookman and his apprentice to investigate a town that is experiencing an insomnia phenomenon. The entire town has not been able to sleep for close to two weeks- there have been no Akuma sightings as of now. I will send the further information to your transceiver." Komui finished.

"Alright, but you owe me Komui! Working with this man is taking years off my life…" Jane sighed into the phone.

"You're the best Jane!"Komui gushed, trying to spark her confidence. "If anyone can work with him, you can!"

"Right! I'm the best for a reason! I'll talk to you later, Komui."

"Stay safe." Komui said, finishing their conversation. The line went dead and he put down the phone.

"Was that really necessary, Supervisor Komui?" Reever sighed from his desk- overwhelmed with both his work and his boss.

"Was what necessary?" Komui sang, skipping to the coffee maker.

"Lying to her." Tapp grunted.

"I don't know what you are talking about~" the accused hummed, sipping on his coffee.

"You know Kanda would never compliment anyone, especially a finder." Jonny said, growing frustrated at his supervisor for lying to Jane.

"It's fine, its fine. Maybe it'll help mend their relationship a bit." Komui winked, causing the science department to sigh and get back to work- they knew a lost cause when they saw one.

He honestly did use the direct quote, Komui mused to himself as he began shifting through papers. Kanda may have not given her a compliment, but what was odd is that he never said he refused to work with her again- a phrase he used after each mission to describe his accompanying finder. He didn't literally request her, but in his own Kanda-like fashion- he did.

* * *

Jane's POV

"He complimented me… in his own twisted way, he complimented me…" I mumbled, making my way towards the train station. Does a compliment from Kanda out weigh all of the insults he's ever dished out? Because technically he insults everybody, but he almost never says something nice about someone. With this conclusion I found myself in a very good mood, maybe 'supporting' him out wouldn't be so bad.

"Oi! You're late, Finder!" A sharp voice drew me from my thoughts.

"Hm?" I hummed, looking up to see Kanda's chest right in front of my face. "Good morning Kanda." I said with a smile before going towards the ticket both.

"Huh?" I heard him say, apparently confused with my lifted mood. I went up to the counter and ordered tickets to the town of Labellum, but I felt his presence follow me.

"Can I help you, Kanda?"

"How hard did you hit your head?" I looked up to see a bewildered Kanda with his eyebrow twitching.

"What do you mean?" I asked, collecting my tickets from the counter- I know it was weird for me to be nice to him, but he didn't have to make it sound like a bad thing. I picked up my luggage as well as Kanda's- since we all know his pretty little hands can't handle a bit of hard work.

"This-" He gestured to me. "This- is not normal."

"You just gestured to all of me."

"Che." What does 'che' even mean?

"I'm just proving my competence." I hummed, hoping Komui was allowed to pass on the compliment.

"You wish you were competent." Kanda growled.

"You're words, not mine." I huffed back.

"I remember what I say, and I never say something I don't mean." Kanda replied, narrowing his eyes.

"Well then, obviously you think I'm competent."

"Obviously not, I never said that."

"Did too."

"I didn't- conversation over." He growled in my face before descending the stairs to the train terminal.

"Conversation NOT over." I growled back, hot on his feet. "Komui said you requested me and called me competent and hard to kill."

"HA!" Kanda barked- with laughter, I dare say? "As if I would ever request a damn finder- especially not one with your caliber of incompetence. Though I do agree with the hard to kill part- you're too pigheaded for death. It's funny that you actually believed I would ever request a bitch like y-OW! Bitch! Get back here!"

"Carry your own damn bags!" I yelled back, leaving the bags on his feet- exactly where I dropped them.

* * *

The train ride carried on in silence- obviously I was sitting outside of the train cabin. Kanda had actually made a point to lock me out- with the luggage, which I was currently sitting on. Although I was angry at Kanda- I found that most of my anger was directed towards Komui. I know he wanted me to go on the mission, but he lied to me? I sighed and continued to read the information he sent me- unfortunately, the constant swaying of the train combined with my exhaustion from the previous mission caused me to fall asleep.

Cue familiar boot in side- "Get up, ya damn brat."

"Ever heard of sympathy for the injured?"

"Ever heard of 'I don't give a damn'"

"Weren't you nagging Allen about not having anything important to him- Seriously, you act as if nothing matters." I complained, as I diligently followed Kanda with both our bags in tow. He suddenly whirled around, grabbed my collar and snarled in my face.

"Don't speak of things you don't know anything about!" He shoved me back, then strided on ahead without looking back.

"Sore topic I guess." I sighed, adjusting the suitcases in my hands before following. I was at the train door when Kanda began reentering the train. "What are you doing? This is our stop."

"No, it's not- hurry, before he sees us. Get back to the train cabin." He ordered, pushing me back towards the cabin he had previously occupied.

"Kanda, are you afraid of something?" I sneered over my shoulder- Kanda looked nervous, glancing behind himself as if to make sure no one was following.

"Of course not. "

"So then why are you running away?"

"I'm not running."

"Then what do you call this?" I chuckled as he forced me into the train cabin.

"Avoiding." He clarified, locking the door. I smiled at his uncharacteristic nervous behavior. So even Kanda got anxious…

"Right…so what are you avoiding?" Kanda muttered something along the lines of 'being allergic to rabbits'- which just befuddled me even more. Kanda…avoiding a rabbit? Was this some sort of niche in his armor? If I put a bunny in his room, would he freak? Oh, the possibilities are endless.

I was pulled from my scheming by a voice- a distinctively male voice. "YUUUUUU-CHAAAAAN!"

"Fuck." Kanda moaned, lowering his head into his hands.

"Yuu-chan?" I asked.

"Don't even…" Kanda growled, but I could tell I wasn't the real target of his frustration.

"Yuu-chan!" Someone exclaimed from outside the cabin door. I looked up to see a face, plastered against the window.

"Wh-wha…" I stuttered.

"Damn, he found us." Kanda muttered, prepping Mugen.

"Kanda, is that necessary?" I asked, trying to reason with the angry samurai wannabe.

"Yuu-chan! Let me in!" The man plastered to the window cried. I got a better look at him, an eye patch, headband, lopsided red hair… how did that equate to a rabbit?

"He's kinda cute, can't we keep him?" I teased Kanda.

"No." Wonderful sense of humor, as always. "I'm going to open the window, run while you can- I'll kill him."

"Kanda, that's not necessary." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Get away from the door, Finder. He's not coming in."

"That's fine, I'm going out. Let me know when you feel like putting on your big-boy pants and actually start the mission." I said opening the door.

"Yuuu~" The rabbit man sang.

"Usagi! Get out of here before I slice your head clean off." Kanda threatened, holding Mugen in an offensive position.

"Right, well then- you can catch up later I suppose. The next stop is only twenty-six miles away." I taunted before dragging the red haired man out of the train car with me. "Oh, and Kanda? Don't forget the luggage."

"Get back here, you damn finder- you're supposed to carry the luggage!" I giggled at his exclamation- ignoring his order. "I'm sorry for his rudeness." I apologized to the red haired man once outside.

"Haha, not a problem- I'm surprised he didn't attack me this time!" Uh….what do you say to that? "I'm Lavi by the way, apprentice of the Bookman." He said with a wink- though it might have been a twitch like blink, it's hard to tell with the whole eye patch thing.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Jane Daly. I'll be your finder for this next mission." I returned his smile.

"I'm glad they finally started sending some pretty girls our way, the only finders I've worked with so far have been men. " He said, swinging his arm over my shoulder. Was he flirting? Just stick to the mission, just stick to the mission- oh that's hard, he's defiantly handsome.

"Ah, erm…well, Lavi, where is the Bookman?" I asked, stuttered as I tried very hard to remain focused.

"Yeah, he'll be here any minute- I just had to run ahead because I heard Yuu-chan was on this mission."

"About the whole 'Yuu-chan' thing…" I began.

"Hm?" He man hummed. "Didn't you know if first name was Yuu?"

"Now that you say it, I think his full name was in his bio information- I just think I might have skipped over it. He's just known as Kanda around the Order."

"Gotcha- well to me, he's Yu-"

"Shut up, usagi!" I heard Kanda shout from behind us.

"Did you get the luggage?" I asked, turning slightly to look at him. Pow! "Owwww…" I moaned, crouching in pain, grasping my head. Lavi mirrored my movements- also in pain from having a suitcase thrown at his head. "BaKanda! What the hell!" I cried- my head felt like it was splitting.

"Know your place, Finder." He sneered, appreciating his newfound height while Lavi and I were still groveling on the ground in pain.

"What's all this fuss about?" I heard an elderly voice say from the far side of the train station.

"Panda!" Lavi exclaimed, quickly rebounding from Kanda's assault on our heads. As he stood up, I looked around to notice to suitcase that had been thrown at me had opened. AKA- my clothes were everywhere. I quickly scrambled to pick them up and stuff them back in my suitcase.

"Pft."

"Shut it, BaKanda." I muttered, he sneered and walked toward the Bookman with Lavi.

"Pand-!" Lave cried again, but was cut off with a sharp kick by said Panda, that sent him flying past me.

"I'm the Bookman, not some beast of the forest." I laughed a bit at their exchange.

"C'mon Red, you gotta meet the old man." Lave said as he walked up from the spot where he landed. I scrambled to put everything in the suitcase before Lavi got too close- I finally locked it shut and let out a sigh of relief.

"Coming, Lavi." I said, standing up.

"I didn't take you for the lace-type."

"Huh?" I asked in utter confusion. He pointed at his own head with amusement, and I slowly slid my hand up to my own head where I found a pair of my panties….I quickly grabbed the underwear off my head and stuffed it in my pocket. My face turned into a tomato as I quickly looked to the side- avoiding Lavi's grinning face at all costs.

"C'mon, Lacey-chan~" Lavi sung, approaching the two other exorcists. I quickly followed after, but kept my head down. I had just met the guy and he saw my underwear….Really? And the fact that it was Kanda's fault set my blood boiling.

"My name is Jane." I grumbled at Lavi, making my way over to the other exorcists. In the confusion of my clothes spilling, I had been able to ignore the pain in my head- but now it was coming back full force. I was going to have to get Kanda back somehow.

"Granpa, this is Lacey-chan. Lacey-chan, this is Grandpa." Lavi introduced us, and received a sharp whack on the head from the Bookman. Kanda snickered, I glared at him and he gave me the most arrogant sneer…He knew- that's why he was laughing before! He knew my underwear was just sitting on my head- that prick!

"My name is Jane, Jane Daly." I corrected Lavi.

"I think Lacey is a much better name." I heard Kanda mutter, I sent him a deadly glare- which only seemed to amuse him more.

"And I am the Bookman." The Bookman said.

"It's an honor to meet you." I said, bowing at the waist. I mean seriously guys, the man recorded all of human history- kind of a big deal. Unfortunately, the motion of bending foreword didn't go to well for my whole head trauma case. I could hear the blood pounding in my ears; it felt as if a hammer was being pounded into my head. My stomach lurched, and relieved itself.

All over the Bookman's shoes.

It took me a moment to tell what was happening- partially because my hearing was fading. "I'm s-sorry." I slurred, my voice sounded distant and muffled. My head wouldn't stop throbbing. I heard someone laughing distantly, but I couldn't really tell. I took a step or two back before bumping into something. "S-sorry." I mumbled again to the Bookman- who was starting to resemble a Panda now. I leaned into the wall I had run into, grasping it with my hand. I think I heard something yell- at what I couldn't tell you. My vision was starting to turn splotchy and black; I griped my head with the hand not on the wall. My stomach lurched again, I turned and vomited toward the wall. I don't think my feet could hold me; I crumbled to the ground and held my head. The pounding in my head stopped- and I let myself fade into the darkness.

* * *

"What an entrance!" Lavi whistled, holding the unconscious girl in a sitting position by her shoulders. "Lacey-chan sure knows how to make first impressions."

"Is she alright?" The Bookman sighed- trying not to look at his shoes.

"She got a concussion on our last mission." Kanda said, removing his jacket- she would defiantly be cleaning that when she woke up. She said she was fine- next time he'd be sure to listen to the doctor's warnings.

"So hitting her in the head with a suitcase probably wasn't the best idea." Lavi laughed- Kanda twitched. "I'll take her if you two don't mind getting the suitcases."

"I do mind- carrying luggage is the finder work." Kanda growled, throwing his balled up jacket at Lavi. "You can take the laundry and suitcases." He sneered.

"Eww- don't throw that in my face! Where do you think you're go- Oww. Jiji, what was that for?" Lavi moaned, grabbing his abused head that the Bookman had just hit again.

"Look." The bookman grunted, inclining his head toward the Asian man. Lavi looked up at Kanda's back to see that he was walking off with Jane hanging over his shoulder- her red hair swaying, almost touching the ground.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello all my lovlies~ finally finished this chapter, I don't know why ut it was strangely hard to get through. But I introduced some characters that I really like, so I'm pumped for the next chapter when I get to develop them more.

Thank you MusicBox_ForYue (I hope I did your user name right) as well as Ume Kanda (without you I would not update as often) and to all of the guest reviews- love you all bunches3

Enjoy the story! *murmurs* Tell them to enjoy the story Kanda.

Kanda: Che.

And there you have it folks~

* * *

"Arrummmm." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes in attempts to wake up. I was on a hard surface, and as I slowly began to open my eyes I saw that I was lying on a wooden floor. "What da…?" I mumbled, slowly pulling myself into a sitting position. I saw a small bed sitting in the corner of the room and a wooden nightstand sat behind it. On the opposite side of the room, there was a plush armchair and a dresser. I slowly stood up, and as my headache returned, I realized what I had done. I had barfed on the Bookman…THE bookman, the recorder of all history. "Way to make a first impression." I muttered, slapping my hand to my blushing face. I opened the door to my room and made my way down the hall. It was a single story inn, so at the end of the hall I found the lobby- as well as the three exorcists.

"Aw, look! Lacey-chan woke up! How are ya feeling?" Lavi asked, bouncing out of his seat before offering it to me.

"Better, thanks. A bit of a headache but I think I'll live." I replied. The Bookman offered me some tea, which I gladly accepted and Lavi pulled up another chair. "Mr. Bookman, I am really sorry about your shoes."

"Not a problem Ms. Daly, I know that no offense was intended." The Bookman said. So did that mean I still caused an offense? I can't tell if I'm forgiven or not…

"You should thank Yuu~ He carried you all the way back here." Lavi said in a sing-song voice, obviously teasing Kanda. Kanda slightly spit out his tea and growled at the red haired man.

"I was only taking responsibility for my actions- nothing more." Kanda responded, recomposing his stoic face.

"And you couldn't have put me in my bed?" I asked sorely, I had a kink in my neck- and now I had someone to blame.

"What? Where did you put her?" Lavi asked.

"On the floor." I responded.

"Oh, Yuu, way to ruin your good deed." Lavi moaned, obviously disappointed at Kanda's actions.

"You were heavy." Kanda countered. "You were lucky we didn't leave you behind."

"A few steps to the bed wouldn't have killed you." I said before taking a sip of my tea. "And, I'm sorry if I have inhibited the mission in any way."

"Nah, don't worry about it Lacey-chan!" Lavi replied, giving me a healthy thump on the shoulder.

"Don't let it happen again." Kanda replied, coldly. I nodded and returned to my tea- it was defiantly helping the headache. I felt awful, I call myself the best finder, yet here I am- slowing down my mission. Kanda had every right to be cold to me.

"Now that you are with us, would you please debrief us on the mission Ms. Daly?" The Bookman asked.

"Right, from what Komui has told me this town has been experiencing city wide insomnia for close to two weeks now. This occurrence can be ascribed to the presence of an innocence, but there have been no akuma sightings yet. From my own readings I have discovered that this town is known for its music- specifically string instruments. I think it would be a good starting point to first question the people hear about the cause of the insomnia, and then possibly look into the musical businesses for signs of the innocence. There is no church in the town, so I'd say music shops and makers are our best bet for starting the search for the innocence. Also, Lavi- this town has a series of large, underground pipes to redirect a river from flooding the town. Please be careful when activating your innocence, it will be easy for you to destroy the foundation of the town and cause a flooding problem." I finished with a sip of my tea.

"Wow, Lacey-chan! You are really on top of things! How did you know what my innocence was?" Lavi asked.

"I am considered a battle compatible finder, so along with a detailed description of the mission itself, I am given information about any exorcists that I will be working with so I am able to 'support' them to my fullest capabilities." I explained.

"So you can fight Akuma? That's amazing!" Lavi continued in his awe-struck voice- I was starting to get pretty cocky- this guy made it sound like I was amazing…which, you know, I am.

"Course I can- I can't exorcise them though. But I can keep level one's busy for you, and I even saved Kanda from a level two." I bragged, getting smug with my accomplishments.

"That is impressive for a finder." The Bookman noted- maybe I could leave this guy with a good impression of me after all.

"Please, she's not that great." And who would be the Debby Downer? None other than Kanda! "She does her job, that's all."

"I'm sure you're amazing, Lacey-chan~" Lavi sang.

"My name is Jane." I grumbled at him.

"I think I speak for everyone here though when I say that you should stay here and rest for the day, Jane." The Bookman addressed me, my face fell a bit. "It's nothing against your skills, but I don't think any of us want you to have another incident like earlier."

"Understood." I said with a big sigh. I hated to be left behind, it made me feel useless.

"It's alright Lacey-chan, you can come with us tomorrow." Lavi consoled, putting his hand on my shoulder. The three exorcists got up to leave and I returned to my tea.

"Hey" I looked up to see Kanda half way out the door. "I left my jacket in your room, have it cleaned by the time I get back, Lacey." He said the last part with a smirk.

* * *

I was blushing. "That idiot! How dare he look at a girl's panties and laugh! And then make a snide remark about it! I can't believe him- oh wait I can- BaKanda." I ranted before falling onto my bed and screaming into the pillow- this was feeling familiar. Kanda was stupid, just a stupid teenage boy who couldn't keep his stupidness to himself. I justified Lavi's behavior by his playful nature, something which Kanda obviously does not have. " Whatever- you're better than him- just get some sleep." I told myself, closing my eyes.

* * *

I couldn't sleep- I was exhausted and just plain old couldn't sleep. It seemed like whenever my eyes were about to close, something pulled me out of my doze. Once or twice I thought I heard something, but I couldn't identify what it was. I tossed and turned, trying different positions, and eventually gave up- I don't think the position was the problem. I had changed out of my uniform and into a clean tunic with a pair of worn working pants for comfort. I lay on my stomach and closed my eyes, I remembered what my mom would do when I couldn't sleep. She would come in the room, and lay on the bed with me; lightly trace small circles on my back with her nails and hum her lullabies; whisper in Gaelic of the adventures that the next day would bring, and somehow my eyes always closed and I would wake up to morning. And as I went through the memories in my head, I felt myself fade, hoping that sleep would wrap itself around me and that I could finally rest.

"Waahhh." There, just then, I heard it. Sleep must have consumed me, I often dreamed of a baby's cry. I felt like drowning in my covers, excited that sleep had finally claimed me. But it was awkward, not a peaceful darkness, as if I were just wishing to be asleep.

"Ahahwaaaa…" I heard it again, and the fact that I was able to open my eyes proved to me that I was awake. A baby's cry was keeping me up? I got up from my bed and looked around the room, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise.

"The windows and door are closed, where could it have come from?" I mumbled, walking towards the window. I looked out into the town, it was built on a bit of slope- so the building slowly descended down the main street. Most of the people appeared sluggish, but I guess two weeks without sleep does that to a person.

This only reminded me of how I couldn't sleep myself- I sighed and turned back into the room. I noticed a black heap of cloth on the floor near my bathroom and assumed it was Kanda's coat. "He doesn't deserve it, he caused it- but he's probably too stupid to figure out how to clean it." I concluded, picking up his jacket and throwing it in the sink. I immediately turned on the warm water and found a scrub brush to clean it with. I hummed an Irish tune and scrubbed his coat. Such activities took me back to the farm, back where little Liam and Niall would torment Miran like the devils they were- and Nessa would always come to her little sister's aid. Then the two boys and two girls would fight and throw mud at each other, and if the boys got cocky they would also throw bits of sheep poop that would cause the girls the scream and run. Kierron would come up behind them and grab the boys' ears to drag them off to the barley fields. I would go console the girls and we would weave the native clovers in our hair, pretending to be the faerie folk, before going to the barn to check on the pregnant ewe.

"Awe, don't you look domestic." I turned to see Lavi grinning while leaning on the doorframe of the bathroom. "I came to get you for dinner, but if you're enjoying washing Yuu's coat, I understand." I glared and him.

"I'm not enjoying it, just doing my job." I huffed, hanging the coat over the shower curtain pole to dry.

"You were smiling though." Lavi continued to tease.

"Just thinking of home." I replied, walking past him. I slipped on my shoes, not concerned with my finder's uniform I walked out of the room.

"Where are ya from?"

"Ireland." I replied, giving it a flare with my accent.

"Woah, really? I don't think I've been there yet, what's it like?" Lavi's curiosity never ceased to amaze me.

"It's green and lush- though there's lots of clouds and rain mind you, but when the sun comes out it's like being in paradise. You get to run though the fields and gather clovers, chase the ewes and run from the rams." He laughed.

"Personal experience?"

"Maybe.' I replied coyly. "And nothing beats a good Irish pub, full of music and laughter. The whisky drowns your sorrows and all you can do is think about how great the next day will be."

"Sounds like an easy place to miss." He said, giving me a sideways glance.

"Yeah." I replied, looking for the dinner table with Kanda and the Bookman.

"So, why did you leave?"

"Huh?" I asked, caught off guard.

"You left such a wonderful place, why?" I sighed, the Bookamn's apprentice was nosier than I thought.

"Curiosity killed the cat." I replied before quickening my pace and seating myself beside Kanda. Lavi sat diagonal from me and gave me a weary look before returning to his over energized self.

"So Yuu-chan, how did your search go?" Lavi asked.

"I didn't find anything worth reporting." He replied, sipping his tea.

"I also did not find anything." The Bookman commented. "How was your rest, Jane."

"Seems like the insomnia is getting to me too." I sighed. "Though, at one point I thought I heard a sound." I managed to capture even Kanda's attention, he turned to me.

"A sound?" He asked.

"What sort of sound?" Lavi piped in.

"I thought I heard a baby crying, but my window and door were both shut. It was like it was in the room with me."

"Maybe the inn is haunted!" Lavi exclaimed, "We'd better go inform the innkeeper." Lavi was about to stand when he received a solid hit on his head from none other than the Bookman.

"Stop your idiocy." He ordered. "That's an interesting observation, many of the townspeople said that sometimes they heard a noise that would wake them up, but only one could identify it. She said she heard a child's cry, and when she went to check up on her son, he was perfectly content."

"So a crying noise that not everyone can hear is keeping people up?" I asked.

"Its not much to go off on, but we will investigate again tomorrow." The Bookman sighed, returning to his meal.

"I call Lacey-chan for partners tomorrow!" Lavi exclaimed, receiving glares from nearby tables.

"No, only the Bookman can control your stupidity." Kanda replied.

"I think Lacey-chan should decide." The red head stubbornly replied back.

"She's a finder, she will follow my orders."

"She's not your finder, she can decide to listen to whoever she wants."

"Unless you two stop treating me like I'm invisible, I'm going with the Bookman!" I said, giving them both a fierce glare- the Bookman rolled his eyes, excusing himself from the juvenile drama. "Honestly, just because I'm a finder doesn't mean I'm some toy for you to argue over."

"You were assigned to travel with me." Kanda growled.

"And we are done traveling Kanda, we're on a mission. And to be quite honest, I think I would rather spend the day with Lavi." I replied.

"Fine." He replied with cold indignance, and stormed off from the table.

"Oo-Oo. Yuu-chan is in a bad mood." Lavi sang.

"Yeah, well, what's new?" I replied. "And no playing twenty-questions tomorrow." I said, remembering our conversation before dinner.

"Whatever you say, Lacey-chan!" He replied, grinning like an idiot.

* * *

"Kanda?" I called, knocking on the door to his room. "I have your coat." I bargained, hoping to make amends- working with a pissed off exorcist typically doesn't end well for finders.

"It's open." I heard his muffled voice reply. I walked to discover an empty room, but I noticed that the bathroom door was shut.

"Are you in there, Kanda?" I asked, giving the bathroom door a quick knock.

"I room's empty, where else would I be?" I heard him mutter. I heard a rustling of cloth before the door opened. Kanda stepped out of the steamy room, almost running into me. "You're in my way."

"Right, sorry." I replied, slowly taking in his appearance. His dark hair, still slick from his shower, clung to his chest.

"What are you staring at?" He snapped, pulling me out of my momentary stupor.

"Nothing, nothing at all- Rapunzel~" I cooed the last part. The man had beautiful long hair, why not push his buttons about it?

"Say that again, finder, I dare you." He growled, slowly moving towards Mugen.

"Ever think violence wasn't the answer?" I replied lazily sitting on a wooden stool. He had threatened me too many times for me to actually take him seriously anymore.

"Ha, no. Violence gets rid of annoyances." He replied with a slight smirk, picking up his Mugen and eyeing me carefully. Okay, so I admit, that did cause me to take him seriously.

"And since when did I get demoted to Finder again?" I added, casually picking split ends out of my hair.

"So you prefer Lacey?" I could tell he was smirking without even looking at him.

"Did you know Jane is only four letters, but Lacey is five. I would think the name with the least amount of letters would be the easiest for you to remember, BaKanda." He scowled at my nickname for him.

"For some reason, Lacey just sticks in my head more. Red, weren't they?" He countered, pulling out a brush for his hair.

"Pervert." I muttered.

"I don't remember inviting you into my room for company. You dropped off my jacket, leaving would be the next obvious course of action." He grimaced. "Damn it."

"What is it?" I asked ignoring his previous request for me to leave. I figured if I couldn't sleep, socializing was the next best thing. And I know its Kanda, but I was going to be with Lavi for the entirety of the next day, and its not as if Bookman was an option.

"Damn knot." He grunted, pulling at his hair mercilessly with the brush.

"Woah there samurai." He gave me a glare. "Why don't I fix that for you?" I asked, he gave me a skeptical look. "Promise, no tricks. I've pulled out many a knots in my day with this mane of hair I have as well as my sister's." I explained, ushering him over to the stool.

"Che, whatever." He replied, his lack of snarkiness led me to believe he was also exhausted from the last mission- which meant someone was going to be a bitch in the morning after a night without sleep. Yet another reason for me to prefer to work with Lavi. I took the brush out of his hands and began to gently tug on his hair below the knot.

"What do you use for your hair Kanda?" I asked, despite the way it appeared from afar, it was kind of ratty and the hairs broke easily.

"Soap." He replied as serious as ever.

"Dumbass." I deadpanned. Honestly, who washes their hair with soap?

"I didn't ask for your approval?" He growled back.

"You never do." I sighed, about half way through the knot. Unfortunately, the knot became tight at that part, not budging from the gentle tugs of the brush.

"Watch it." He muttered, referring to my increase in force when brushing. His voice had lost some of its malice, almost as if he were relaxed. Almost.

"Mhm." I hummed in response. I used an old trick I used for my sister's knots since they couldn't stand the tugging either. I silently spit in my hand and massaged it into the knot. What the BaKanda doesn't know won't hurt him. I easily slipped the brush though his hair, gently tugging his head with the motion. Technically, I had gotten the knot out, but I kept on brushing, admiring how the brush easily split his hair. I could never get a brush to do this with my curly hair.

"You done?" He asked quietly after a while.

"Yeah, sorry, got carried away." I replied sheepishly, scratching the back of my head.

"Hm." He replied, turning towards me. I gave him a slight nod before turning to leave his room. I stopped in the hall and admired my sort of normal social exchange with Kanda- I had actually managed to leave his room on non-aggressive terms. I smiled a bit, maybe he wasn't as awful as I originally thought. Or maybe I'm just that awesome. I concluded it was the latter.

* * *

Morning came, and nobody could sleep a wink. I was right when I said that Kanda would be a bitch- I was too tired to have to deal with him. "Kanda, please just shut your trap." I sighed into my coffee cup.

"Excuse me?" He growled. "Want to say that again, bitch?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth." I countered aggressively. He growled and was about to lunge at me, but then Lavi put a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Now, now. Let's not get into a quarrel this early." Lavi hesitantly tried to calm us down, it seemed like a night without sleep had caused his energetic personality to be toned down.

"Che." Kanda replied, returning to his cross-armed slouching position.

"I'm not hungry." I grumbled, leaving the table. I walked outside of the inn, hoping the fresh air would help my mood. The crisp air did help get rid of the crease on my forehead and the frown on my face. I was ready to start the mission, because the sooner we started it, the sooner it ended, and the sooner I could sleep.

"There you are. Ready to go?" Lavi asked, coming out of the inn.

"Yeah, let's go." Lavi matched his pace to mine and we walked down the main road. "Do we have a particular destination in mind?"

"There is a music shop down this way that we can start at; since you seem sure the innocence will be related to music." I could tell he was teasing me, testing my confidence in my hypothesis.

"It seems like the obvious place to start since we don't have any leads right now." I replied, my eye contact with him was unwavering.

"Oh, someone's serious this morning~" Lavi sang, breaking the slight tension.

"Yeah, well, not sleeping and being on your second mission in a row can do that to you. At least I'm not as bitchy as the BaKanda."

"I'm surprised how well you two get along." I tripped at that statement.

"Well? You think we get along well?" I asked, taken aback.

"Yeah, he's never interacted with his finders this much- usually he ignores them."

"Sometimes I wish he would ignore me."

"You're difficult to ignore, Lacey-chan." He sent a smile my way and I knew what he was referring to.

"Its Jane, Lavi. For the last time, its Jane." I said firmly, tugging on his ear to bring his head down to my level.

"Ahaha." He gave me a nervous laugh before I let him go. "Whatever you say, Lacey-chan!" He yelled, taking off down the street.

"Get back here, Lavi!" I yelled after him, giving chase. Despite my dislike for the nickname, I did enjoy Lavi's lighthearted nature.

"Oooowah…." I stopped running. I looked around the street to pinpoint the noise. I had heard the baby cry again- but we were in town- so maybe it was what it sounded like, just an actual baby crying.

"Yo, Lacey, what's wrong?" Lavi asked, jogging back to me.

"I thought I heard that noise again." I muttered, still trying to focus on hearing the noise again.

"Wahhh…"

"Lacey, are yo-"

"Sh!" I cut him off, I hear it coming from the left side of the street. I turned and saw that besides the brick walls of the buildings, there was an alley way. "It must be down this way." I said, walking toward the alley.

"Hold on, I'll go first. I'm the man with the hammer." Lavi sent me a playful grin. We entered the alley way, still a bit fog was trapped from the cool morning air. "Can you still hear it?" Lavi asked me.

"No, but let's just see what's on the other side." I pressed my hand to his back, making him walk faster. So far there were no akuma sightings, so being cautious wasn't my first priority. As we continued down the alley, a song picked up. I couldn't hear the baby crying, but the air carried the sound of wind instruments.

"Do you hear that?" Lavi and I asked each other at the same time- he grinned at me and I returned his smile. It was hard not to smile around him.

We reached the other end of the alley to see a slightly run down music shop. Lavi opened the door and a bell chimed, signaling our arrival. The music stopped and I heard heavy footsteps thump down the stairs.

"Welcome! Welcome!" came a deep, slightly muffled voice. The person walking down the stairs turned out to be an old man, probably in his sixties. He was stout with peppered hair and had a mustache and thick eyebrows. "Have a look around; let me know If I can help you find anything."

"Actually mister, we are from the Order and are here to ask you some questions." Lavi explained.

"Oh, investigating the insomnia? Well then, please come upstairs so I can offer you some tea and biscotti." The man ushered us to the stairs. "My name is Eliodoro, it's always a pleasure to meet the workers of the church.

"Thank you for your hospitality. I'm Lavi, and this is Jane." Lavi said.

"Now you know my name." I grumbled, Lavi pinched my arm in return.

"Please have a seat." Eliodoro gestured to the small, three seated table. "The tea will be ready momentarily. " He said, placing the biscotti on the table.

"Elliodoro, what can you tell us about the recent insomnia phenomenon?" Lavi asked, suddenly becoming very businessy and formal. I guess the guy could take a mission seriously. I tuned out momentarily and surveyed the room. I caught a small boy peering into the room.

"Ne, it's okay, you can come out." I cooed at the boy.

"Nonno, chi sono queste persone strane?" The boy called over to Eliodoro.

"Arduino, non essere scortese. Vieni a dire ciao." Eliodoro called back, the boy shook his head and scurried back into the other room. "My apologies, that is Arduino, my grandson. He does speak English, but he is very shy."

"Mind if I go talk to him." I asked.

"Go right ahead, but no guarantees that he'll talk back." The old man said, waving me off. Lavi could handle the old man, I would handle the boy. Children were typically more perceptive to changes than adults, they cling to the 'norm' status and are easily flustered by changes.

"Hey, Arduino? You there bud?" I asked, rounding the corner, into the next room.I saw the boy standing by the window, ignoring my entrance. "What are you looking at?" I asked, coming up to stand beside him. His brown eyes were intensely focused on the alleyway outside of the window. "Is something out there?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. He looked up at me, and nodded. "Monsters?" I asked, maybe the child had seen an akuma. He nodded again.

"They come whenever we play music, I tell my Nono, but he does not listen."

"I know they are real, I have seen them too." I told him, his eyes widened.

"They came and then everyone stopped sleeping." He said, returning his gaze to the alley.

"So you think the monsters are causing the insomnia?" He furrowed his eye brows.

"Insomnia?" He asked, confused by the English word.

"It's the inability to sleep." I explained, now also looking out the window. "How long does it take for the monsters to show up?" I asked, inching my way over to him in case I needed to grab him and run.

"Soon." The boy responded simply, not at all phased by the situation.

"Why don't we go back to your grandfather?" I asked, ushering him away from the window.

"They never find us." The boy said, not budging from his place at the window. I looked out and saw something move in the alley way. I squinted and saw what looked like a spark- a spark?...

"Canon." I whispered. "Get away from the window!" I cried, wrapping my arms around the small boy. I wrapped the cloak around us and dove towards the wall as the window shattered.

"What do we have here?"I heard a voice sing from the outside, how come level twos always seemed to have the most obnoxious voices?

"Lavi! We have company!" I yelled, dashing into the next room with the boy in my arms.

* * *

Thank you for reading! Please review! (It motivates me to write. So really, by reviewing, you're just guarenteeing yourself a faster update) :3


	8. Chapter 8

So I know I told myself that I would finish this mission in this chapter-but I couldn't. It should only take up the first part of the next chapter, and that's fine- but I couldn't resist the parallelism at the end, so my inner artist (yes, I have one of those) forced me to stop it here.

Special thanks to Ume Kanda, Emmerai, and LavisSecretWeapon and the Guest for the reviews. Especially the Guest, because I didn't have any activity all week, so it was you review on Friday that got my butt into gear to actually write this next chapter. Another thank-you shout out to Ellen, who gave me a break on Saturday so I could write more. Unfortunately, she is in Chicago right now, so she did not Beta this chapter before I published it, the edited version will be up within the next few days~

On another note, I notice whenever I write, I always drink black, French Roast coffee and listen to Ed Sheeran- just an observation I recently became aware of.

Kanda: Freak.

Says the person who lives off of Soba….

Kanda: What was that, woman?

Nothing, Nothing at all, BAKANDA! :P

* * *

"Grow, Grow, Grow, Extend, Duck!" Was this some weird version of duck-duck goose? No, this was Lavi's hammer growing to astronomical proportions and then lengthening at light speed towards my face. My body reacted and I ended up in a backbend, narrowly missing a collision with his hammer, silently thanking my quick reflexes. "Haha! Nice moves Lacey!" Lavi called as he shot by me, towards the akuma.

"Focus on what's in front of you!" I called back, coming out of the backbend and running into the next room to get Eliodoro. The old man obviously appeared panicked as I ran in, but was relieved when he caught sight of his grandson. "We need to evacuate the area." I said firmly

"B-but the shop-" The man stuttered.

"Your lives are more important." I replied before grabbing the old man by his arm, pulling him downstairs with me. "Golem!" I called out, hoping to gain the attention of Lavi's flying computer. As we made our way outside I heard the familiar buzz of the black device, and looked up to see that it had made its way from the other side of the house to me. "Golem, send out a code red to all other golem's within the town's radius as well as our positioning." I ordered, ushering the man to the other side of the street. The golem beeped at me before returning to Lavi on the battlefield.

"A few doors down there is a wine cellar we could hide in." The old man suggested.

"That would be perfect." I responded, following Eliodoro down a set of stairs that apparently led to the wine cellar. Upon entering the cool cellar I set the boy down, "Holding up okay?" He responded with a nod of his head. "Okay, both of you, head for the back corner- hide behind some barrels and stay quiet." I directed. "I'll be back soon."

I ran back outside to see that Kanda had arrived on the scene, but the number of akuma had doubled. Lavi had moved from around the backside of the house/music store and was also fighting in the street. "They just keep coming, don't they?" I heard him huff. He was right, although there seemed to only be a couple level twos; the level ones were flooding the sky like a swarm of insects. Kanda released his underworld insects on a mob of level one akuma that were closing in on him, but Lavi wasn't doing as hot.

"Lavi! Your fire seal!" I called out at him- that seal of his could take care of the group surrounding him, so why wasn't he using it?

"Kinda busy right now!" He called back, I then saw that he was engaged with the Level two- who appeared to be a clown of sorts who was sitting on a cannon. I know this was a serious situation and all, but the clown was shooting these spherical bombs, and Lavi was batting them like a baseball player.

"Got it!" I shouted, hoping he knew I was about to give him an opening. I crawled up the fire escape and ran across the roofs, dodging the occasional toxic bullet- though I was secretly thankful towards the cover Kanda's insects gave me (whether intentional or not). I was behind the level two that was facing Lavi, and right before it could fire another bomb at the exorcist who was distracted by the previous bomb- I jumped.

My landing shifted the angle of the canon so that it fired into the sky. "Lavi!" I yelled, giving him the cue.

"_Hi Ban: Gouka Kaijin!" _I heard him call, but I wasn't too concerned with his battle cry seeing as I had a level two akuma on my hands that wanted to kill me.

"Get off!" It shrieked, wheeling itself in circles in attempt to remove me from its back. I held on firmly to its back, but when it started grabbing for me I had to think of a new plan. I jumped, and my distraction worked, the akuma jolted and lost its balance while hovering. "You bitch, I said get off!"

"Haha, look! Lacey's riding an akuma!" I heard Lavi laugh- course he thought it was funny, he wasn't the one on the akuma's back. The akuma bucked and twirled again, and I held onto its back and jumped on the back of its cannon again- knocking it off balance yet again. But this time, when I jumped, a cannon ball bomb fired- right at a level one. So what if I didn't have an innocence? I had a cannon!

While the other two exorcists worked together, and as the Bookman entered the battle scene, I experimented in taking out level one akuma. I had taken out four of the level ones, when the level two finally managed to pull me from its back. "Maggot!" He cried before throwing me to the ground, thirty meters below. I winced at the force the akuma had used, but surprise took over my face as I saw Kanda jumping towards me. Had brushing his hair somehow softened the tension between us? Was he really going to save me from plummeting into the ground?

I am far too optimistic for my own good.

He passed me in his leap towards the level two akuma, making brief eye contact. His eyes were fierce, and I could tell that I was not his intended target. I felt a foot contact my back and push me downwards, increasing my initial velocity. I let out a surprised yelp and covered my head with my arms, bracing myself for the impact.

"Extend!" Thank goodness for Lavi. And his awesome extending hammer. Lavi caught me while standing on his hammer's extended handle.

"L-lavi!" I stuttered, out of breath. He had caught me by the collar of my uniform while his other arm held on to the hammer's handle.

"Lacey~" He responded, giving me a cheeky grin- I would punched him in the shoulder for his cockiness once we were on ground level, but for the time being I compromised by glaring up at him, which only seemed to delight him more.

Once he put me on the ground I noticed that most of the akuma had been taken care of, Bookman was taking care of the remaining level ones, and Kanda was dispatching the level two I had ridden.

"Way to support Kanda, no way he would have reached that akuma all the way up there!" Lavi observed Kanda's battle (or massacre), shielding his eyes from the sun.

"I didn't support him, the bastard was gonna let me fall." I huffed in response, no really caring for the topic.

"You made an excellent foothold, he pushed off of you so hard, I almost didn't catch you." I remembered his foot on my back, I know I'm a battle compatible finder…but really?

"Foothold?" I muttered, growing angry.

"Ahaha, now Lacey-chan- don't get too mad at him." Lavi chided, waving his hand at me. Kanda landed on the ground, not too far from us, after dispatching the level two akuma.

"I 'ave a bone ta pick wit ya!" I growled, stomping up towards the Asian, completely determined to kick his ass. He turned my way and face contorted to something between a sneer and disgust. Then he slapped me. It was different from our fist fight we had before, that was out of anger, this was out of hatred and maybe a bit of disappointment.

"Don't you dare think you could ever do our job, Finder." He growled before storming away- I stood there and held my cheek, wondering what he meant.

"He's right you know." I heard the Bookman come up behind me, I partially turned to make eye contact with him. "Only exorcists have the ability to purify the body and souls of akuma. All you did was destroy them." I know he walked away, but frankly I didn't care. I felt as if I couldn't breathe.

How could I have forgotten what separates us? Me, the finder, from them, the exorcists. No matter how badly I wanted to help, I could never actually save the tormented souls and body of the akuma. I knew that, more than anything I knew that. I lived with the consequences of that every day, and yet in the heat of battle, it slipped my mind.

I felt Lavi's hand on my head, attempting to comfort me in my distress. "C'mon, Lace." Was all he said before leading me towards the wine cellar.

* * *

Lavi and I retrieved Eliodoro and Arduino from the wine cellar, and headed back to the inn. The trip was made in silence due to the stunned nature of the Italians and my gloomy mood- Lavi was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

I was dreading going back to the inn, heck I was having a hard enough time just looking at Lavi. I don't think I will attend dinner tonight, no way could I think about eating in front of those three right now. We walked into the inn, Kanda was nowhere to be seen, and though the Bookman was in the lobby, he ignored our entrance.

"Thanks Lavi, I'll take them to my room for now." I said, leading the old man and boy to my room. Kanda awkwardly passed us in the hall, but neither of us bothered to look at the other. I ushered the two into my room and closed the door behind us.

"What is wrong, bambina?" Eliodoro asked, sitting on the plush chair by the window. Arduino climbed into his grandfather's lap to look out the window.

"Nothing, just messed up out there." I gave a shaky laugh as I scratched the back of my head. I sat on my bed, if I were alone I would have flopped back and stared at the ceiling. Maybe even let a few frustrated tears slip. But now I was in a mission, taking care of civilians. I need to keep my emotions in check.

"Mistakes are good." The old man hummed.

"Haha, well, not this one." I replied, still nervous about the topic.

"This one too." He nodded several times, slowly his head bobbed up and down.

"No, this was a big mistake. As in, huge, colossal, will-never-live-it-down sort of mistake."

"Don't live it down, live with it."

"Okay, you lost me." The old man chuckled at me.

"Mistakes are the only means by which we can learn. The larger the mistake seems, the more you have to learn from it. Like in music, you play the wrong note, and your ears tell you to make sure you correct it the next time- you learn not to play that wrong note again." His voice grumbled from deep in his chest, and his tongue flickered with his Italian accent.

"So learn from my mistake. Don't beat myself up over it, or forget it happened- learn from it and keep going." I sighed, appreciating the simplicity in his lesson.

"Dagli errori, otteniamo la conoscenza." He said, and lifted his head to give me a small smile. "From mistakes, we gain knowledge."

"Thank you, I needed to hear that." My lungs filled with air, and I could feel myself breathe again. I don't consider myself a 24/7 happy-go-lucky type of person, but the feeling of depression was still strange to me, I thought I had left it behind long ago.

"Nono, quello che è successo al nostro negozio di musica?" Arduino murmured softly to his grandfather.

"I would also like to know, what will happen to our music shop and home?" Eliodoro refocused the question to me.

"The damages done to your house and shop will be compensated by the church. We don't go around destroying things without a bank to back us up." I said lightheartedly.

"B-but I left the violin there, the one Babbo gave me." Arduino stuttered.

"Don't worry, we'll go back tomorrow with the exorcists to see what you can keep as well as to investigate the area for innocence." I explained. "I'll be sure to help you look for it." The boy nodded at me before returning his gaze to the window. "Don't worry, one of the exorcists will always be on guard tonight, the akuma won't get us."

"Akuma?" he responded, turning back to me.

"The monsters from earlier." Arduino nodded again, and noticeably relaxed in his grandfather's arms. "So what got you interested in music?" I asked Eliodoro, trying to stir up some polite conversation until dinner.

"It's our family's heritage, my father and grandfather were both violin carvers. I now carry on that legacy."

"Did you ever feel like it was forced upon you?"

"Music seems to seduce the men of the family at a young age." Eliodoro gestured to Arduino who squirmed under the attention.

"Do you play the violin, Arduino?" I asked, trying my best to pronounce his name correctly. The boy just nodded at me, so I tried again to get him to use his voice. "How long have you been able to play the violin?" he held up all five fingers of his left hand. "Wait, how old are you?" He couldn't be much older than five, was the kid born with the knowledge of how to play the violin? Arduino held up two more fingers with his right hand. "Seven, huh? You have been playing for most of your life then, do you enjoy it?" He nodded again. "Why?"

"It lets me create something of my own." The boy replied, his gaze never wavered from mine. Now that, my friends, is a wise seven year old.

"That's beautiful." I muttered, filled with a sudden admiration for the boy.

"Why do you work for the church?" He asked.

"W-what?" I asked, startled and the boy's sudden input into the conversation. He looked at me, knowing I heard him perfectly, and did not bother responding to my exclamation. "I suppose I work for the church to create a better world, without akuma."

"You suppose?" The boy fired back. I was almost intimidated by the boy's sudden change in demeanor, his intensity was not meant for a child. "How can you give your life to something you don't even believe?"

"Who are you to question my motives?" I fired back. I quickly regained my composure, "Sorry, it's a sensitive topic…I want to create a safe world, one without wars and needless death- for my family." I responded looking away, embarrassed that I was riled so easily by a child. I heard the boy climb off his grandfather's lap and walk towards the bed. His hand came into my field of view and lay on top of mine.

"That is also beautiful." I looked up into his dark eyes, it was easy to forget he was the child and I was the adult. His short hair curled against his head, and his slightly chubby cheeks uplifted into a faint smile. "You seem sad."

"I am tired." I explained with a small grin of my own, "Insomnia will do that to you."

"Then you should sleep, sorella." My smile widened even more at his term of endearment, as well as his mature nature.

"Easier said than done."

"Lay down, and close your eyes." The boy ordered, I humored him, still smiling. "and sleep." It was as if someone turned out the light. I fell asleep instantaneously.

* * *

3rd Person POV

"You like her, Arduino." Eliodoro stated from the corner, observing as his grandson fiddle with the girl's curls.

"She reminds me of mother." The boy muttered.

"Oh?" The man responded, drawing himself erect in the chair. "How so?" The boy did not make it a habit of bringing up his dead parents.

"Because she also reminds me of violin strings."

"Haha, are you sure it isn't just her hair?" The old man chuckled.

"Yes, I am sure." The boy responded curtly, still curling and then uncurling pieces of the girl's hair around his finger.

"Hey, guys, dinner's ready!" Lavi called from outside the door.

"We're coming." The elderly man grumbled, making his way to the door.

"Hey, Jane! I talked with Yuu-chan, he said he was sorry for hitting you earlier!" Lavi called again as the door was opening. Unknown to Lavi, Kanda was making his was down the fall.

"Did not, Usagi! Stop making up lies and putting them into my mouth." Kanda snapped at Lavi, hitting him on the head. "Get out here, Finder. Stop pouting in your room." Kanda called into the room lazily. A finder who didn't eat was useless in battle, he had concluded.

"She will not be joining us." Arduino said, walking out the door, towards the lobby, Eliodoro not far behind.

"Why not? She didn't eat this morning either." Lavi stated, becoming a bit more serious. He peered into the roomand spotted Jane laying on her bed.

"You're more trouble than you're worth." Kanda declared, barging into the room. "Come on." He said, poking her foot with his sheathed Mugen. The girl didn't move, Kanda's frown became more pronounced.

"C'mon, Lacey." Lavi sang, approaching the bed side. "You can pretend all you like, but we need to eat dinner." He said, shaking her shoulder a few times.

"Whatever." Kanda muttered, turning to leave the room. "Let her waste away if she wants." Lavi narrowed his eyes at Kanda, but returned his attention to Lacey. Lavi picked up her wrist, thinking he could prove to her that she was awake by showing that her heart rate was too fast. But it wasn't, she had a heart rate as if she was asleep.

"Yuu, I don't think she's pretending." Lavi called back to his fellow exorcist.

"She can't really be asleep, no one has been able to sleep in this town for over two weeks." Kanda said, leaning against the doorframe that leads into the room.

"But look at her, she's in RAM right now." Lavi said, gesturing to the flickering of Jane's eyes beneath their lids. "And her pulse isn't low enough to be unconscious, but she's definatly asleep." Kanda came over an observed the girl.

"We should report to the book man and decide what to do after he gives his opinion." Kanda said stoically, still observing the girl. He then turned around to leave the room.

"But what about Lacey-chan?" Lavi asked dramatically.

"What about her?" Kanda responded, turning back to look at the girl. "Leave her. I'm hungry." He muttered before leaving the room. Lavi glanced at Jane once more before leaving the room, closing the door behind himself.

* * *

Again, 3rd Person POV (Because Jane is in Slumber land~)

The chair scraped loudly against the floor as Lavi pulled it into the table where dinner was being served. "So, Jane is asleep, what should be do, Panda?" Lavi asked, reaching toward the bread basket. The bookman swiped the basket out of his apprentice's reach and placed it towards Arduino and Kanda, who were sitting next to each other. Lavi frowned, but the Bookman quickly regained his attention.

"Let her sleep. I'm sure she will tell us what happened once she wakes up. Until then, don't disturb her." The Bookman shot Lavi a menacing glare, as if he knew Lavi was planning on drawing on her face while she slept. Lavi let out a nervous chuckle before reaching across Kanda to grab a piece of bread.

Dinner continued in an awkward silence, since Lavi, the only talkative one, was stuffing his face. Arduino had spent his evening eying Kanda, who was becoming increasingly agitated under the boy's gaze- eventually he snapped.

"Do I have something on my face?" He sneered at the boy.

"No." The boy replied simply. He continued to stare, and Kanda developed a twitching tick mark on his forehead.

"Then why are you staring at me?" He asked, trying to reign in his annoyance for the sake of the boy.

"Did you really hit her?" The boy asked quietly.

"The finder? Che, yeah. She deserved it." Kanda replied, returning to his meal.

"Unlikely."

"What?" Kanda asked, not believing the kid was arguing with him.

"It is unlikely that Jane deserved such treatment." The child explained, sending Kanda a chilling gaze of his own. The two glared at each other, and the dinner continued in an awkward silence.

* * *

Jane's POV

I groggily opened my eyes, it felt like I was trying to drag my mind out of a thick swamp and onto the dessert- draining and unrewarding. I saw that light was steaming through my window, morning huh?

"It's morning!" I exclaimed, sitting up. It was morning, I had slept- is it sad that this situation is surprising? I left the room and went into the lobby to see the Lavi and Eliodoro engaged in a game of chess, the Bookman was reading, and Arduino seemed to be bugging the snot out of Kanda with his incessant stare.

"So Sleeping Beauty, who's the prince?" Lavi asked, the first to note my entrance. His comment reminded me of Aiden- which caused me to smile.

"Mr. Sunshine." I replied back, "And you look like you're causing problems, Mr." I laughed, scooping up Arduino's gangly body and putting him on my lap. Kanda sighed, as if relieved for being released for child watching duties.

"How was your rest?" The boy asked with a serious face, though I did notice a blush lightly graced his cheeks.

"Lovely, thank you." I replied, nuzzling my nose into his neck, causing him to giggle. I was glad to break that stoic face of his.

"Care to explain what happened?" The Bookman asked, not so much as looking up from his book.

"Nothing happened, Arduino just said I should sleep since I was tired. And low and behold, I closed my eyes and Boom! I was out." I explained. The Bookman put his book down and nodded.

"Now that you are awake, I would like to investigate the area of the akuma attack yesterday. We need to see if there was anything there to draw them to their store." The Bookman finished, eyeing the boy in my lap. I looked down at Arduino, who was only looking at his own hands.

I let Arduino ride on my shoulders on the way to the shop, and made him hold out his arms as I raced in front of the group. "It's like flying." I huffed, trying to keep up my sprint- the boy laughed.

"I think the birds are much better at it!" I slowed down to a walk, slightly panting.

"Well the birds don't have to run uphill." I responded, stopping to let the others catch up as well as to regain my breath.

"Haha, tuckered out Lacey?" Lavi grinned.

"Shut up." I exhaled, smiling back at him. My mood seemed to be significantly improved with a night of sleep. "Why don't you try carrying him?"Arduino tugged on my hair, pulling me to walk foreward.

"You're the one that slept last night." Lavi countered, poking my side. I dodged away from him, since my hands were occupied with keeping Arduino on my shoulders. I glared good naturedly, but ended up accidentally knocking into somebody who roughly shoved back.

"Oh, sorry Kanda." I apologized, even though technically it was Lavi's fault. I'm such a good person.

"You're noisy." He responded, not looking at me.

"And you're cranky." I retorted, leaning in towards him, giving him a sly grin- Kanda sighed. As I leaned away I heard Kanda grunt, I turned my head toward him to see that Arduino had grabbed a piece of Kanda's hair.

"Why do you have long hair like a girl?" The boy asked. My eyes widened- and to think I thought he was smart.

"Ahaha, why don't you drop that?" I laughed nervously- I saw the rage building up in Kanda.

"What did you say you fucking brat?" Kanda growled darkly, eyes hidden by his bangs. Arduino dropped Kanda's hair, and Kanda drew Mugen.

"Now, now Kanda. He's only a kid-" I said trying to pacify the man, grabbing Arduino from my shoulders. I tucked the boy under my arm, which he didn't appreciate, but I had a feeling I would need to run for his life, so I could care less if he appreciated it.

"As if I give a shit!" Kanda roared, coming at me with Mugen. I artfilly dodged, while sprinting foreward.

"It's KuroKanda!" I heard Lavi sing.

"Kanda! Stop!" I commanded, still dodging his attacks. He either was too tired to try or didn't actually want to kill me. I hope it was the latter. "Come on Kanda, you can't let a kid get under your skin!" I tried to reason, dashing ahead of him. I was almost happy he was chasing me, even if it was Arduino's fault, because it's almost like I was forgiven for yesterday's incident. Like I was forgiven with normalcy.

"Get back here brat!" He yelled, chasing after us. Arduino was laughing under my arm, which caused me to laugh at the situation as well. This only seemed to rile Kanda more, "Fuck it all, I said get back here!" He yelled at us. I backpedaled to yell back at him.

"Can't let a finder beat you! Come on Rapunzel, I'm winning~" I could have sworn I saw fire ignite in his eyes as I saw his efforts nearly double to catch up to me. He was five feet away from me before I heard Lavi shouting. I saw Kanda's eyes widen. I felt the cannon pressed into my side.

All I could think about was the small, gangly boy in my arms. How he was so much like Kierron. He thought he was older than he was, and sometimes had to be reminded of how he was actually child. He was only seven.

I threw him towards Kanda in an awkward underhand toss. Kanda had to release his hand on Mugen to catch him. Maybe he could have gotten to the akuma if I would have just held onto the boy, but that was a maybe I couldn't risk with Arduino in my arms.

I heard the thunderous crackle and release of the cannon at the same time I heard someone shout my name. My actual name.

"JANE!"

* * *

HOLY FRICKIN COW

That took me forever to write- I blame my job….

And Durarara….

And my intense desire to paint my nails…

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review because it motivates me to update faster!


	9. Chapter 9

So sorry for the delay, I know this is a week late- but I had college orientation! I scedualed my classes, and today I just! figured out the three other people I am rooming with- so we are all trying to get to know each other before school starts. Just as a note, this chapter does not have as much humor as my previous chapters- after all, D Gray Man is a shonen manga, so there does have to be some action, right?

Let me know what you think~ a review can always help me become a better writer!

* * *

I heard someone shout my name, but I was too preoccupied with the pain in my side to identify the voice. I did not fall unconscious, unfortunately for me I can still recall what it feels like to be blown through the wall of a building. My side felt as if it was crushed, which it was to some extent, but no stars appeared on my skin. The cloak had saved me from a death- I would be sure to kiss the entire science team later. The spot where the akuma's bullet hit was thinner now, I would have to be careful.

I hurt all over, and took a moment for me to regain my breath, and then another to open my eyes. I shifted through my Finder packs attached to my uniform to find my morphine. Finders were trained as medics, we had various pharmaceuticals on hand to deal with battle related injuries. I bit the cap off of the needle and quickly jabbed the needle into my leg. I gasped, but appreciated the sharp pain, although my legs weren't working at the moment, I wasn't paralyzed. I unloaded the syringe, and took several more deep breaths before attempting to sit up. I was on top of a pile of bricks, in what used to be a kitchen.

I realized that a battle was going on outside, but until I could carry myself I was useless. I tried to stand, but despite the morphine, my side protested. I crawled towards the opening my body had created and peered out. Kanda was dismembering the akuma who had attacked me with Arduino under his arm, the poor kid looked terrified. Lavi and the Bookman were guarding Eliodoro from a level two and handful of level ones. There wasn't as many as yesterday, their numbers had taken a hit when they tried to ambush us at the music shop. I continued to preoccupy myself with tying my hair back with the blue ribbon Mary had given me, by the time I was done, the morphine had done its job to curb the pain.

I peeked my head out the side again, using the wall for support I stood. I made eye contact with Lavi and gave him a small wave so he knew I was alright. Even from this distance I could see him sigh with relief. I felt something warm on my hand, and looked down to see red. Just because the cloak had protected me from the poison did not mean I was saved from the physical brutality of the blow. I sat back down, putting my head between my knees, and breathed deeply. "Don't pass out, don't pass out." I muttered, hoping the mantra would somehow affect my state of consciousness.

Time passed, but it was difficult for me to tell how long. The blow through the wall had done more damage than I originally anticipated- go figure, right? Sometimes it was easy to forget that I wasn't indestructible- I was actually a Finder. Just breathe. Breathe. Brea.

"Jane! Jane, are you alright?" Just Breathe. Stay awake.

"Jane, come on, be okay." I felt someone shake my shoulder, I groaned in response so that they knew I was conscious. "Alright, where does it hurt?" Everywhere. I groaned again. "You have to give me more to work with."

"Everywhere."

"Well, at least you're talking." I looked up to see an uncharacteristically serious Lavi.

"You finally got my name right." I muttered into my knee.

"What do you mean, Lacey?" He replied, sitting next to me. I groaned again, stupid Lavi.

"Sorella!" I heard a small voice cry. I looked up to see Arduino running up to me. "A-are you alright?" He asked hesitantly, fiddling with his hands.

"As long as you are." I replied, mustering up a smile for him. He tried to hold them back, I could tell, but tears started to fall down his cheeks.

"S-sorella!" He cried, lunging at me. I caught him and held him in my arms. Sometimes, kids just need to cry. He wound his fingers in my hair, pulling it. But that was okay, he was crying, and I was glad he was acting like a kid.

"I'm okay, a little bruised, but I'll live." I murmured into his ear. He tightened his grip around my neck.

"Can you stand?" Lavi asked, I shook me head.

"Tried, I can try again."

"Its okay, don't push yourself." I felt rotten, I hated how Lavi was acting like I was made of glass.

"Don't baby me, I'm fine." I stood up, way too fast. My world spun and the pain in my side increased tenfold. I grimaced. Lavi grabbed my arm to steady me, but I didn't stop him. There was no point in causing a scene, Lavi would treat me delicately, and maybe I did need it. Kanda and the Bookman approached us, after finally finished dispatching the remaining akuma. Kanda's mouth was pressed into a thin line, but his eyes almost appeared feral with anger.

"I could have taken down the akuma if you wouldn't have thrown the kid at me!" Kanda was yelling at me. I leaned into Lavi's side, the yelling was making my ears ring.

"Not now, Yuu." Lavi replied, wrapping an arm around my waist to support me. Kanda seemed to not hear him.

"You act as if you know everything, as if you're indestructible- hate to break it to you, but you are a finder! You don't know anything! And you will die!" I know what he said was true, but you can't blame a girl for trying, right?

"I was doin' my job." I replied back, frustrated with his harsh assumptions, "You 'avn't seemed to 'ave an issue wit tat before."

"Your job is to not get in my way!"

"My job is ta support you an' protect civilians." I fought back.

"I could have protected both of you, stop trying to throw your life away!"

"If I correctly recall, I am ta replaceable one in tis situation." I replied darkly. There was no way he was going to criticize me on my potentially reckless behavior after calling my life repaceable.

"Then die for all I care!" I grimaced, holding tighter onto Lavi. I didn't have a comeback for that.

"Yuu, that's enough, she's seriously injured." Lavi interjected. Kanda glared at me for a moment, with a fiersness that I hadn't seen in him, before storming off. "Don't worry, Lace. Yuu was just worried." Lavi said, turning his attention back to me.

"I doubt he was worried, Lavi." I stated, staring at the spot where Kanda once stood.

"Who cares what he thinks?" Arduino spoke up, grabbing onto my pant leg.

"You're right, Arduino. Who cares what the BaKanda thinks?" Worried my ass, he was just pissed that he wasn't the center of attention. Lavi smiled a bit, apparently glad that the mood was lightening.

"Can you make it to the shop, Jane?" The Bookman asks, looking at me skeptically.

"I can make it as long as Lavi doesn't mind helping me get there." I replied, flashing Lavi an appreciative smile. "Let's keep moving, and when you search the shop I'll bandage myself up." the Bookman nodded at my decision and began to follow Kanda, who was making his way towards the music shop.

"You have a cute accent there, Lacey." Lavi hummed as we started after the others.

"Thanks, Lavi. Allen said something similar."

"Allen?"

"Yeah, the new exorcist."

"Oh, so that's who Kanda was talking about. He kept on ranting about a Moyashi, glad to know his name."

"I don't understand why he can't just use a person's name." Lavi gave me a look, something close to realization or surprise. "What's with the look?"

"Nothing really."

"Right- well how did you get your nickname?"

"Usagi?" I nodded."That's a secret." He said with a wink. I scowled, not the answer I was looking for.

"How long have you known him anyways?'

"Yuu? I think a few years maybe."

"Has he always been bitchy?"

"Ahahaha! Definatly! Though I feel like he's been getting soft lately, maybe he'll change." Lavi was looking off towards Kanda's direction. "Hopefully not though, his temper is what makes him so much fun." Oh, Lavi, course he was impervious to Kanda's killer glare.

"Haha...right...fun." I responded with a nervous laugh- I didn't quiet understand how bitchy equated to fun, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, right? We were approaching the group who was crowded around what was left of the music shop. The bottom floor was actually mostly intact- it was the top floor that the akuma and Lavi had destroyed the day before.

"Arduino, where is your violin?" I asked the small boy when we finally caught up to the group. Arduino just looked at his ruined house.

"I'll go help him find it, you bandage yourself." Lavi said, helping me sit on the curb. He went inside the building with Arduino and Eliodoro. I slowly took off my jacket to see that blood had soaked through my white tunic. The back of my shoulder was bleeding from where it collided with the wall. Fortunatly even though my ribs were broken on the other side from the canon blast, there was no broken skin. I did have some nasty bruises though. I looked around to see that though the Bookman was gone, Kanda stood outside of the house still. I was NOT going to take off my shirt with Kanda standing there, even though it seemed as if he was ignoring me.

"Aren't you going to go inside?" I asked, hoping to cue his exit.

"No." He still wasn't looking at me, and that sort of irked me. He told me to die, and now he's ignoring me.

"Could you go inside?" I tried again. Maybe Lavi shouldn't have left me in the middle of the street when I needed to dress my wounds.

"No." Really Kanda? He was so much more of an ass than I gave him credit for.

"Okay, well just don't look over here." I said, hoping that once I started stripping, he would get the idea and scadadal.

"I will look wherever I please." I smirked at his comment.

"Pervert." I muttered, before pulling my tunic off. I had on a wrap to cover my chest, so I technically wasn't completely stripping.

"Who would enjoy looking at your ugly body?" He growled, glaring at me. I glared back; I wasn't comfortable with my naked body- I had too many scars to be considered pretty. His comment was not needed, like usual. I pulled out the alcohol wipes, deciding to get the worst over with quickly. I sucked in a sharp breath as I attempted to shakily wipe up my shoulder.

"You'll never disinfect it like that." I heard Kanda say, before hearing his footsteps approach me. My back exploded in pain as he slapped the entire alcohol wipe over my open wound. I yelped and cursed.

"Fuck you, Kanda! What ta hell was tat for!" I exclaimed, tying to remove the cloth from the back of my shoulder. He held onto my arm to keep me from squirming before pressing the cloth onto the wound again.

"Shut up." He growled. I bit my knuckle and let him finish. I let out a sigh of relief when he removed the stinging cloth.

"Do you enjoy causing me pain?" I asked.

"Hn.." He pressed the cloth down once more, making me shout in both pain and surprise. "Maybe."

"Stupid, BaKanda.' I muttered, chewing on my lip.

"Don't be a wimp, now you can bandage it." He said before leaving.

"Wait, if I couldn't reach it with the disinfectant, how am I suppose the bandage it?" I asked.

"Not my problem." That ass, he just wanted to put alcohol on my injury. He walked back to his post in front of the store. Act professional. Must act professional. I gritted my teeth to prevent any profanity from escaping my mouth. I bandaged my shoulder as best I could before tightly wrapping my stomach to hold my ribs in place. They wouldn't grow back into their normal position, but I wasn't in a position to be rearranging my bones. I pulled my tunic on and put on my Finder jacket. I tested my feet and slowly stood up. The bandages around my stomach helped to support my side and take the pressure away from it.

"Sorella! I found it!" I looked towards the shop to see Arduino clutching something wrapped in cloth, I assumed it must have been a violin. Kanda momentarily glared at the boy before he began conversing with Lavi.

"You have your violin? It wasn't damaged?" I asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah! It's just like before." Arduino smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back.

"You'll have to play it for me someday, kay?"

"Of course, sorella."Arduino replied, taking my hand and leading me up to the shop. I enjoyed his small gestures of affection. As we approached, both Lavi and Kanda stared at Arduino- I gave them questioning looks.

"Everyone! come quickly!" the Bookman called, running towards us, breaking our staring match concentration.

"What's up, Jiji?" Lavi asked, when the Bookman didn't hit Lavi, you knew things were getting serious.

"Akuma, they are on their way here." the bookman was breathing heavily. "Jane, take them and hide somewhere safe- there are many more than yesterday." I nodded, taking in the severity of the situation. I could not understand why all of these akuma were being drawn here now, nor why they were specifically targeting us. Sure, exorcists were hated by akuma, but civilians were easier targets. It was strange for them to be targeting us so adamantly, there must be an ulterior motive.

"How much time do we have until they get here?" I asked. There were civilians in these homes that were unprepared for an attack- they needed to be warned.

"A few minutes at best."

"Eliodoro, take Arduino to the wine cellar you were in yesterday, I need to evacuate these homes." I instructed the older man.

"Lace, go with them, you are in no condition to be running around." Lavi ordered firmly- just because I support exorcists does not mean I take direct orders from them.

"Despite popular belief," I sent Kanda a quick glare, "I can keep myself perfectly safe and do my job. When the akuma come, I will take cover. I realize that I cannot help you all in battle today."

"Fine, but be careful." Lavi sighed in defeat.

"And may luck be on our side." I replied before dashing off. I heard Kanda grumble something along the lines of 'luck is for wimps.' But I chose to ignore it. I'm Irish; luck is always on my side.

* * *

I ran along the line of houses that surrounded the street we were one and informed the tired looking residence that they needed to take cover. Most looked at me skeptically, but when they spied the exorcists readying themselves for battle they retreated into their safe spots. If they didn't have a basement I directed them to the cellar Eliodoro and Arduino were staying in.

"Lace! I see them, get to the cellar!" I heard Lavi yell at me. I had one more house to visit on the street though, I had time for one more house. I ran up the steps and pounded on the door.

"This is an emergency! Please come to the door!" I called, desperate to get the residence to open the door.

"Lace! I said to take cover!" Lavi was getting angry. But the door opened to reveal a ten year old girl, so I could really careless if Lavi was angry with me. His job was to take care of the akuma, mine was to make sure this little girl was alive by the end of the day.

"Is there anyone else in your house? This is an emergency; a battle will take place soon. Do you have a basement to hide in?" I know I was rushing the whole evacuation speech, but we didn't have time to lollygag.

"Mom! Some weird lady is at the door!" The girl called back into the house. I think I felt my eyebrow twitch. Some weird lady? I was trying to save their lives…che, whatever… great, now I sound like the BaKanda.

"Madam! You need to locate to a safer area! Do you have a basement?" I called into the house. A middle age woman hurried down the stairs, with a Kindergarten age boy not far behind

"Who do you think you are to barge into a woman's house like this?" Great, a whiner…

"I apologize for the sudden intrusion. I am with the church and this area needs to be evacuated. You and your family are in danger." I rushed.

"How do I know you aren't scamming us?" The woman looked at me skeptically.

"I am a finder of the black order church, I would not lie to you." There are certainly times when I wish I had a cross over my heart- it's like a pass for instant trust. People see the badge and they do whatever the people with the badge say. I could tell them each to buy me a bottle of Guinness, and they would- betcha that's how Cross get by.

"I'm afraid I am finding this hard to believe." The woman narrowed her eyes before attempting to close the door.

"Please! You have to believe me!" I cried, catching the door and pulling it open.

"I said-!" Her potentially angry tirade was cut off when her eyes widened and she began to lift her hand to point at something behind me. I reacted.

I picked up the flowerpot by the door and threw it at whatever was behind me. It smashed into the akuma, throwing it off balance, giving me enough time to push the woman inside her house and close the door.

"Is there anyone else in the house?"

"T-the baby.." The woman stuttered.

"Take the two others to the basement and bolt the door. I'll get your baby." I instructed before pulling the women up off the floor and pushing her towards her two other children. "Where is your baby?"

"He's upstairs." The woman replied, finally catching up the situation. She grabbed the hands of her other two children and began leading them off to presumably the basement. She turned back, "Please make sure he's okay."

"Of course, Madam." I replied with a slight nod before rushing up the stairs. I took the stairs two at a time, but when I was a step away from the top, an explosion echoed from the level below. The akuma had broken in. I ran faster, glad I had a healthy dose of morphine in my system to work with my adrenaline. The first two rooms I looked into were empty, but the third held a cradle. I ran up and gently picked up the dazed child.

I thought of the half built cradle in my own room.

The baby yawned and half opened his eyes. They were blue. Blue eyes and black hair- like Liam. He opened his eyes wider in realization that I was not his Mother, and began to tear up.

"Hush now, don't cry." I cooed, looking around the room for an exit. There was a window, and from the looks of it there was also a trellis running by it.

The floorboards exploded beneath my feet as a clawed, slimy arm for a level two akuma latched itself around the ankle of my boot. I let out a shriek as it lifted me off the ground, holding me upside down- baby still in my arms.

"After waiting for so long in the sewers we are rewarded. You exorcists have finally come. And now we will have the innocence!" A gurgled voice came from the akuma, he looked like he belonged in the sewer. All sludge and claws- how does the Earl think up something this gross?

"Too bad I'm not an exorcist." I grunted, quickly crunching up to undo the top latch of my boot, allowing me to slide my foot out. As soon as I hit the floor I made a mad dash for the window. I ran into it with my shoulder, causing it to shatter- but quickly grabbed the trellis with my hand not holding onto the baby. With only one arm and two legs I began to scurry up the trellis. The sludge akuma swung his arm out the window in attempts to squash me, but only managed to get my foot without the boot. I realized what this akuma's special ability was- that sludge was incredibly acidic. I couldn't feel it when it grabbed my boot, but now that it made direct contact with my skin I was well informed.

I screamed. I wanted to vomit it hurt so bad. I continued to climb. The child was now crying in my arms. When I reached the roof and pulled myself up I saw the skies. They were grey with akuma.

"Where are you going!" I heard the sludge akuma shriek, before shooting a clawed arm through the roof. I narrowly dodged it, and slowly began backing my way to the other end of the roof top. The akuma clawed himself a larger hole and climbed through it. "I don't care if you're an exorcist or not, I'm still going to kill you." It made its way toward me, and all I could think about was the amount of pain my foot was in, and the child in my arms. His arm lashed out at me, I jumped back, and the edge of the roof was on my heel- there was nowhere else to go. His arm lashed out again, and I was forced to jump back again. I wrapped myself around the baby, the akuma's arm was whipping out again- I could only hope I would be able to shield the baby from the attack.

I closed my eyes. "Return of the apocalypse!" I felt an arm scoop me out of my descent and carry me.

"K-Kanda!" I stuttered in my surprise, definatly not the person I was expecting to see. He didn't look at me, instead he watched as his underworld insects devoured the level two that had been chasing me. I took in the situation, he may have told me to die in the heat of the argument- but he had saved me. Actions speak louder than words.

We landed on the ground a moment later, the baby was still safely tucked in my arms. "Thank you, Kanda." I meant it, he might be an ass, but he's an ass that just saved my life. He nodded at me. I liked him better when he didn't talk- I think we would get along much better if he was a mute.

"How's the kid?" He grumbled, surveying the area for more akuma. Most were just level ones in the sky now, and Lavi's fire seal was taking them down like flies.

"Seems to be alright." I responded, shifting the child in my arms. He was still crying a bit, but at least he wasn't wailing. The sound of human cries filled the air, accompanied by the sound of akuma bullets being fired.

"Stay." Was all Kanda ordered before taking off in the direction of the hellish noise. I listened to Kanda, with a baby in my arms and the pain that was beginning to seep into my system, I knew I was useless in battle right now. I sat by a brick wall, and cooed at the baby, hoping that he would fall asleep. Being chased by a level two sludge akuma would make anyone tired. And for the second time in the town that couldn't sleep, I slept.

* * *

"Jane, Jane, wake up."

"Lavi?" I grumbled, wiping my eyes. I wanted to sleep- I was in so much pain and I just wanted to sleep.

"Give me the baby, its okay, you can let go." He gently pried the child out of my arms. He was crouching in front of me, holding the child. "You okay?" I leaned to the side and threw up. Good thing I tied my hair back earlier, huh? "I'll take that as a no. Let me go and give the kid to someone, and then I'll be right back, don't worry." He ran off, I was barely conscious of his departure. I had already used a morphine injection today, but I was debating using another one.

"Jane, I found the kid's mom. She was very appreciative that you saved her baby."

"Baby?" I muttered. I was thinking about a child I didn't save.

"Hey, stay with me." Lavi ordered, patting my cheek. He swung my arm around his shoulder, and his other arm supported my waist. It's a good thing he didn't carry me, I threw up two more times before we reached the other exorcists.

"Jane, thank you for your efforts today." The Bookman was talking to me, but all I could do was look at my shoes. "Your leadership skills helped direct many of the residing families to safety." I felt like I was going to throw up again.

"I saved a baby." I murmered, Half delusional, but also half trying to prove a point.

"You did save a baby, his family was very happy to see that he was okay." Lavi reassured me.

"Did the mother cry?" I asked.

"She did."

"Kanda." I looked up, the Asian was watching me out of the corner of his eye. "I saved a baby."

"You did your job, Finder." I passed out.

* * *

I was in bed, at the inn. I could hear a baby crying. Lavi was slouched in a chair next to my bed. The battle was over. "Lavi?" my dry voice cracked. Lavi snapped back to reality.

"Jane, you're awake? I was expecting you to sleep for days."

"Something's wrong." I commented, trying to sit up. Lavi helped me by putting pillows behind my back.

"Why do you say that?" He asked, he sounded fake-happy.

"You used my name." I responded. He only used my name when something bad was going on.

"I did, didn't I?" He laughed hesitantly, scratching the back of his head.

"What's wrong, Lavi?"

"Jane, you need to understand that this wasn't your fault." I felt my stomach drop. "The cellar that you directed some of the people to take cover in, it was connected to the sewer system. The akuma got in. only three people are alive that took cover there. Arduino's violin turned out to be the innocence that was drawing in all of the akuma, he was able to use its ability and saved two other people. We have ourselves another exorcist." Lavi smiled a bit. I was trembling, the reality of what he said, that I had lead people to their deaths, I don't think I could handle it. I gripped fistfuls of my sheets, and I cried. Tears slid down my face that I had no control over. I screamed and buried my head into my hands. I just wanted to protect those people. "Jane, its not your fault." Lavi reached his arm out to comfort me.

"Don't touch me!" I cried, lunging away from him. "Don't touch me." I whimpered. I killed them. They trusted me, and I killed them.

I cried and sobbed, but I would not let Lavi touch me. I didn't deserve comfort. I wasn't a quiet crier, I felt so much anguish and pain at what Lavi told me- and I let it out.

After a few minutes Lavi left the room, he knew I wanted to be alone. Unfortunately someone couldn't take a hint. Moments after Lavi left, Kanda walked in.

"Get over yourself." He growled. Get over myself? I wasn't crying for myself.

"Go away." I moaned, covering my face with my hands. I continued to hiccup and cry, but my sobs had subsided.

"No." He replied and sat on the chair Lavi had been in. "If you want to call yourself the best finder, then pull yourself together." He didn't understand. I had killed all of those people

"Kanda, I just killed all of those people."

"You saved a baby." I looked at him. He held my gaze. One baby can't make up for so many people, can it? "Stop crying."

"I-I can't just stop crying." I stuttered, looking at my balled up hands. Something hard hit my head.

"I command you to stop crying." Kanda replied in a monotone, he had hit me in the head with a fully sheathed Mugen.

"Why did you just hit me?" I exclaimed.

"Stop crying." Kanda repeated.

"How is hitting me supposed to make me stop crying?" I replied, still pretty ticked that he hit me. His violent behavior did succeed in momentarily distracting me; the tears were drying on my face.

"Actually, stop talking too." I was about to tell him off, but his eyes were serious, so I stopped talking. I heard a child crying.

"Someone's crying."

"It's the innocence." I looked at him again.

"The innocence?"

"The kid's violin."

"Violin?"

"Stop repeating everything I say." Kanda growled. "The old man died. He's alone." Eliodoro was dead? Arduino was the accommodator? Kanda stared at me, as if expecting me to do something with the barrage of new information. Was he expecting something from me?

"What do you want me to do?" I asked helplessly.

"Che, useless, don't make me regret my words." Was his only response before leaving, his eyes didn't seem angry. Fuck 'che', whatever 'che' was. Didn't he tell me that I did my job? How come I was suddenly useless? That man was so bipolar, he probably is more girl that guy. With that thought comforting my wounded pride, I got out of bed and exited my room. I followed the crying noise to see if I couldn't find Arduino.

* * *

I opened the door that the noise was coming form and saw Arduino playing his violin. The violin's body appeared normal, but instead of a scroll, there was a carved baby's head. The head cried with the violin. I couldn't hear a violin, only the cry of a baby.

"Is that your innocence?" I asked, Arduino stopped playing and looked at his violin. Several minutes passed, "Arduino?" I asked, taking a step closer to him.

"I couldn't protect him. I saved two strangers, but I couldn't protect him."

"Arduino, that wasn't your fault, you aren't trained to battle akuma." Maybe I should listen to my own words.

"I could- I could have-" He dropped his violin, he was sobbing.

"Arduino, shush, everything will be alright." I scooped him up and let him tangle his fingers in my hair. He cried for the second time that day. This time it was out of grief. At some point I felt tears slide down my own face. We cried together and held each other- it felt better than crying alone.

* * *

That night, I traced circles on Arduino's back and whispered Gaelic into his ear about the adventures we would have the next day. He fell asleep, and I promised to be his new family.

* * *

A message from my bird (Kiwi):

Tttttttttttttttt2S65800

\

+tt

P5KMKWAW1111E;


	10. Chapter 10

Here's the next chapter! Its early because I'm on vacation, so I have lots of free time. I would like to give a special shout out to Ume Kanda who always leaves a review on all my updates- Thank you so much! I appriciate your support! It motivates me to keep writing. Also this chapter has not been edited yet- I will post the edited version whenever my friend is finished with it.

Thank you for reading- Hope you enjoy~

* * *

"KOMUIIIIII! Where are you?" I yelled across the train terminal. Right now Lavi, Bookman and I were awaiting his arrival to meet up so he could take us to Allen and Lenalee. We were in the middle of Germany, and we had been waiting for the Supervisor for the better part of two hours.

"Jane, I don't think that's appropriate here." The Bookman commented, obviously uncomfortable with the attention our small group was receiving.

"Yeah, Lacey-chan, stop acting so immature~" Lavi teased. I scowled at him, but continued my search for the white beret. I twirled around the pole I was using for support, and adjusted my footing on the back of the bench to search the other half of the crowd that surrounded us.

"KOMUI!" I called to the other half of the crowd- who would have thought that a white beret would be so difficult to find.

"Jane, what are you doing up there?" I turned to see Komui- without his white beret. He was being escorted by two finders.

"There you are, was your train delayed?"

"Yes, apparently the engine needed some quick repairs before we could depart."

"Miss Daly, I request that we continue this conversation somewhere private." The Finder on Komui's right asked.

"Of course, a carriage is waiting for us." I answered, herding the group towards the exit. Once safely inside Komui burst out of seriousness, practically unable to contain himself.

"Oh, Lenalee, please hurry- my darling sister is on the brink of death!" Komui called to the finder driving the carriage. He continued uselessly flailing and fidgeting- I figured I would help him retain his poise in front of the Bookman.

"So who is the new exorcist?" I asked, trying to distract the man from the thought of his ailing sister. I was sitting next to Komui, so I figured I was the one designated to try and calm him down.

"Her name is Miranda, she will be reporting back to headquarters to have her innocence modified and to undergo training. Speaking of which, how is the boy doing?"

"He's upset, I don't think I approve of your decision. I should have accompanied him back to headquarters."

"I know you don't like it, but Kanda needs to regroup before joining the Tiodoll unit and I need you to help the Cross unit while Allen and Lenalee are still in recovering." I still didn't like his decision. I sighed and looked out the window.

* * *

Flashback~

"What!? Komui, you can't. I should go back with Arduino, he feels most comfortable with me, and right now he needs stability. Not some prick who would sooner leave him behind."

"I know you don't like the idea of Kanda escorting Arduino back to headquarters, but that's just the way this situation played out. I need you to go with Lavi and the Bookman to pick up Allen and Lenalee."

"But they will have four exorcists on their unit, why do they need a finder?" I was angry, it had taken Arduino three days to even play his violin again, I wish I could give him more time to move on.

"Jane, please don't fight me on this. I know it is best for the boy to travel back with you, but I also need to worry about the exorcists deployed in the field. I want you to stay with the cross unit, at least until Allen and Lenalee fully recover."

"But Komui, I don't know if I'm ready for another mission." My voice was strained; I needed time to move on too.

"Jane, I need you to be strong right now. I need you to help our exorcists, the deaths of civilians is to be expected. I know it's hard to face, but that incident wasn't your fault." I was still upset, everyone said it wasn't my fault, but that doesn't make me feel any less guilty.

"Understood." It had been five days since the battle, five days since we found out Arduino was the accommodator for the violin innocence, and five days since I had led a group of people to their death.

"You will leave tomorrow, so please inform your team and make sure Kanda knows of his job."

"Understood."

"So hurry up on your next mission so you can come home, Arduino will be waiting there for you." I smiled.

"Understood, Supervisor." I hung up, but I wasn't ready to tell Arduino the news yet. That he would have to leave me tomorrow, and that we wouldn't be able to see each other for a long time. I found the boy on the roof, playing his violin.

The violin itself was a bit creepy looking. The baby head that was on the scroll would actually cry whenever he played. I could never hear the tune he fiddled on the violin, only that damn baby's head crying.

"Arduino?" I called, the crying stopped abruptly- something I was thankful for. The boy looked at me, and I smiled back. He had become much more reclusive since Eliodoro died, I was hoping to draw him out of his shell again- even if that meant running for my life when he pulled on Kanda's hair again. "I see you are working with your innocence, how is it coming?"

"Fine, I think I am getting the hang of it, Sorella." He said placing the violin back into his bag.

"So you can now control when the head cries?" I asked, coming up next to him.

"Yeah, it has been easier since the first time I used it. I think it cries because I'm sad."

"Then maybe it would sing if you were happy?" I asked, pulling one side of his face into a half smile. He swatted m hand away.

"I don't feel happy right now." I felt my heart break a little. I hugged the small boy. "I'm afraid I will forget what happiness feels like."

"Arduino, by my blood, I will make sure that never happens. You will feel happy again, it just may take a while. Losing someone you love makes you feel like there is nothing inside of you, but that's why you make bonds with new people. Not to replace those who are gone, but to help you learn how to live again." His fingers curled in my hair, a feeling I was beginning to appreciate as one of his occasional signs of affection.

"Are you one of those people?"

"Yes, I am." I murmured into his ear.

"You won't leave me?"

"I can't make that promise, I'm sorry." I felt him let go of my hair, but I gripped him harder so he couldn't get away. "But I will always be your sorella." I pulled back and gave him a small smile, he returned it with a smaller one, but at least it was a smile.

"Are you ready for breakfast?" He nodded, with one hand he held onto his violin case, and with the other he grabbed my hand. I lead him down the stairs and saw that the other three exorcists were already at the table.

"Well look who finally decided to show her face, none other than Lacey-chan!" He smiled and winked, pulling out a chair for me.

"Don't forget Arduino." I commented, trying to pull the attention away from myself.

"Course, can't forget the youngest exorcist in the order- Say, do you think he'll head the next generation?" Lavi asked the Bookman.

"I have a feeling that if this generation does not rid the world of the Earl, then there is no hope for the next generation." Leave it to Lavi to pass the conversation ball to a realist at the breakfast table.

"SO, Lavi, how have you been?" I asked, breaking the deadly silence.

"How kind of you to ask, I thought you were the one who was avoiding us?" Okay, so I admit I wasn't being the most social person over the past few days- but I feel as if it was justified considering I killed a group of innocent civilians.

"Hey, I was with Arduino." Like half the time, the other half was spent in a state of depression in my room- but Lavi didn't need to know that.

"We all know you were moping over your failure as a finder." And Kanda takes the gold for being an ass! Who would have seen this coming? "Now if you are ready to move on with your pathetic existence, you need to eat before you leave us with another corpse to report to the Order." Lavi elbowed him in the side for me.

"It's not as if I'm unhealthy." I countered, not looking at Kanda.

"You will be if you keep this up, what good are you if you don't fuel your body?" He replied.

"Aw, Yuu~ Are you worried about Lacey-chan?" Lavi sang, making Kanda twitch.

"No, I just don't like to be burdened." He replied. "And if you call me Yuu one more time I swear I will fucking gut you here and now."

"Aw, is Yuu embarrassed?" Lavi teased, causing an immediate reaction from Kanda where he unsheathed Mugen and grabbed Lavi's collar.

"Usagi…" He growled. I laughed; it was good to see that some things never change. Lavi and Kanda looked at me before sharing a concerned look. Before Kanda could continue attempting to gut Lavi again, the waitress came to take our orders.

"I'll have oatmeal." I responded when she asked for my order. The waitress then looked to Arduino. He just nodded at me. "I think he wants oatmeal too." I responded for him.

"Make sure you put lots of nuts and fruit in hers." Lavi nondesreetly whispered to the waitress.

"Hey, I am perfectly capable of ordering my own food!" I interjected, but the waitress wrote down his comment nonetheless. I scowled at Lavi, which he returned with his own signature grin.

"So what did you and Komui talk about?" He asked, changing the subject.

"You and the Bookman will continue to travel with me to meet Allen and Lenalee in Germany. We are to join the Cross unit, though it sounds like I will only be there until Allen and Lenalee fully recover from their run in with a Noah. Speaking of which, care to explain who the Noah are?" I asked, eyeing the Bookman.

"For a later conversation." Was his only reply before taking a long sip of his tea.

"What about me?" Kanda asked.

"You are to escort Arduino to Headquarters before regrouping with the Tiedoll unit." Kanda did not look pleased.

"So I'm stuck with the brat?" He grumbled, glaring at the child.

"Kanda, a moment outside?" I asked, trying to reign in my anger. He didn't make a move to get up so I kicked him under the table. "Humor me."

"Che." He snarled before getting up to leave.

If he was going to take Arduino back, then he needed an attitude check.

* * *

3rd person POV

Lavi, the Bookman, and Arduino witnessed as Jane hurried outside and Kanda followed her slowly, obviously not happy with his decision to 'humor her'.

Though the group could not hear their exchange, they could tell that Jane was angry, and the window revealed Kanda's front. At first the man started out ignoring her, but then his anger spiked. He looked as if he was growling, but suddenly a few moments later, his face dropped the hostility and paled slightly. The entire exchange took around ten minutes. Jane entered, still red in the face from yelling at Kanda, and went to her room, ignoring the oatmeal placed at her spot.

Kanda also came in and took his spot at the table, lips pressed into a thin line.

"Um, Yuu?" Lavi started, not knowing exactly how to handle the situation. Since when did Kanda pale?

"Psychotic bitch." He grumbled before eating his breakfast. Lavi burst out laughing, finding that the Irish finder was far more amusing than he originally gave her credit for. "Shut up, usagi."

"Ow! Jiji! Yuu's hurting me-ow ow ow!"

"Idiot apprentice." The Bookman muttered before leaving the table. Arduino slipped away with both his own as well as Jane's oatmeal to continue their breakfast in the peace of her room.

* * *

Jane's POV

It was time to say goodbye, and I don't think I was ready. It was only six days since Arduino had lost Eliodoro, and now he was being shipped off to Headquarters to train as an exorcist. We were at the train station, and Arduino wouldn't let go of my hair.

"It's okay, I'll promise to call often- every night if I can. It's not as if we'll never see each other again, we just have to spend some time apart. You'll train to be a strong exorcist, like Lavi, Kanda, and the Bookman. Then, maybe I could work with you on a mission- wouldn't that be great?" He nodded, head still buried in the crook of my neck. "So train hard while your there- and if you need anything don't hesitate to ask Komui, he's like the head of the family there, kay?" He nodded again. I set him back down on the ground.

"Sorella, I'll learn to make my violin sing for you." He said, kissing me on the cheek. "So hurry back."

"Kay." I promised myself not to cry; I would see him again- he would be safe with Kanda and then at Headquarters. Plus I think I was all cried out from the last couple of days. "Kanda you take care of him." I ordered, pointing a finger at the exorcist.

"Whatever." He grumbled, turning to board the train.

"And don't get yourself killed without me there to take care of you." We had been on three missions in a row; I think a little friendly jousting was in order when we finally separated.

"How many times have I saved your ass?" Okay, so someone didn't get the point of 'friendly' jousting.

"It was only, like, twice." I responded. "Plus I saved you once!"

"Shut up!" He replied back. "And try not to die, finder." It was only natural he would revert back to 'finder'- just like our first mission. And with those final, sentimental words, he left with Arduino.

* * *

Present Time

"Did you discover the cause of the insomnia?" Komui asked.

"It seems lie it was similar to Miranda's case, the innocence granted his wish- though instead of the 'tomorrow never coming', his wish was to be able to play his violin for an audience all the time. Though I think he just meant for his grandfather to always have time to listen to him play, the innocence translated it as keeping the entire town awake so he could play for them. " I explained, Komui nodded his head, deep in thought. The rest of the carriage ride was silent.

We arrived at the clinic that was caring for Allen and Lenalee. I helped Komui carry in his massive load of papers to Lenalee's room. Apparently Allen had regained consciousness, while Lenalee had not. Komui was not the only one worried for her. Lavi had run off to 'greet the Moyashi' as he put it- I had a feeling that Allen wouldn't be all to thrilled about his new nickname. The Bookman also followed him saying that he wanted to work with the other finders to secure the premises. I volunteered to help, but he said that someone should stay with Komui.

"Thank you for your hard work, Jane. I know the past few days have been hard on you." Komui said after we went into Lenalee's room, papers and all.

"Just doing my job, supervisor." I responded, setting down the papers.

"I hate seeing you like this Jane. You are an important part of our family, I can tell when you are upset, you put up a professional front- almost to a fault."

"You're unnaturally serious too." I mumbled back, leaning against the wall.

"It upsets me that I have to send you out to face the danger's of the akuma and now of the Noah- and I am forced to stay back and hide." My face softened, I could sympathize with feeling helpless.

"It's going to be okay Komui." I said, embracing the supervisor.

"J-jane.." He stuttered at the suddenness of my actions.

"We all just have our own way of protecting what we love. I support the exorcists. Lenalee uses her innocence to protect everyone. Kanda guts things. And you organize all of us. Without you, we'd all be a mess." I realize I've been doing a lot of hugging lately, but hugs felt nice- especially when you were hurting. Maybe I should start a trend, because it seems like everyone in the Order is hurting under the surface. Everyone came together with things they lost or gave up, to protect something. Maybe even Kanda was fighting to protect something.

"Thank you, Jane. Maybe you should listen to yourself sometimes." He smiled down at me, and I smiled back. Smiling was a good trend to start too- though that might be even harder than hugging for Kanda to adopt. Haha, Kanda smiling…and hugging- the world would stop spinning.

"What are you thinking about? You look amused." Komui asked, shuffling his papers around.

"N-nothing." I stuttered, blushing a little. It was kind of embarrassing to be imaging what Kanda looks like smiling.

"Oh, Jane, are you blushing from our embrace- do you have a crush on me?" He squealed. I punched him in the gut. Its best if I end that ridiculous daydream of him now- no need to have the science department catch wind and try to play matchmaker.

"In your dreams, Idiot Supervisor."

* * *

"Do you need some help, Komui?" I asked the supervisor.

"I would hate to trouble you." He responded in mock courtesy, placing a stack of papers in front of me.

"How long have you been procrastinating?" I asked, wetting the pen on my tongue before beginning to help the supervisor with his monstrous stack of paperwork.

"Only a few months- didn't I tell you I made a Komorin II?"

"Not another one…" I grumbled, only half paying attention to the conversation. Komui continued to ramble about how his robot was apparently drinking coffee and going haywire, while I was attempting to actually do HIS paperwork. After a while, the rhythm of the pen on the paper lulled the supervisor into a state of unconsciousness. I sighed, but continued his work- he probably wasn't sleeping enough lately. After a few minutes I heard a knock at the door.

"Komui, I'm coming in!" The voice called before Allen walked into the room. "Ah- Lenalee is buried." He commented.

"Sorry fer ta mess, Allen." I apologized, but continued the paperwork.

"Jane, I didn't know you were here. How was your mission?" He asked politely.

"It could have gone better." I sighed; hoping he would get that the mission was not up for discussion. "How about yours?" I asked.

"Good- though the run in with the Noah was unexpected. That's actually why I came here, I was hoping that Komui could answer my questions."

"Good luck waking him up- I don't think he's slept in a while." I hummed, moving on to a new stack of paperwork.

"Lenalee is going to get married." Allen whispered to the supervisor. Instantly, Komui was awake and powering up his innocence repair drill.

"I see you have been hanging out with Reever." I absently commented, still intently focused on Komui's paperwork. Really Komui? This paper was supposed to be revised over two months ago- I realize he likes making robots, but maybe he needed a bit of a reality check.

"Oh, its you Allen…what is it?" The sleepy man commented after concluding his sister was, in fact, not going to be married.

"I came to see Lenalee- it looks like she hasn't woken up yet."

"She's probably just having a long dream. Bookman examined her, so there is no need to worry." Komui responded.

"Bookman had some strange medical instruments…" Allen commented, sitting on a box labeled 'oranges'.

"It's called acupuncture. It's a medical treatment using needles, its been passed down since ancient times in China. That old man is a master in that art~"

"Komui, why did you take time to come out here, even though you're busy?" What do you mean 'he's busy', I'm the one doing his paperwork. "It's not because of me or Lenalee, is it? What is 'Noah's Family'?" I stopped writing to listen to Komui's response- I was also interested in this new threat.

"He came here to ask us- actually he came to ask Grandpa Bookman." Lavi said. We all turned, surprised to see the apprentice Bookman in the room- he grinned at us. I asked the question everyone was thinking,

"Lavi, when did you come in?"

"Details, details, Lacey-chan." He waved me away with his hand- I scowled in response to my nickname and his obstinance. "Only in the rumors of history is the name 'Noah' ever mentioned. It's the name of a groundless family. They often make an appearance at the crossroads of history, but that is never noted in reference of history books. They appear alongside an unnamed Earl- and that leads to why Komui is here. Bookman in the only one in the world to know about the unrecorded historEEUGH-" Lavi was cut off with a sharp kick from said Bookman.

"How many times do I have to warn you not to talk so much? Only Bookman can reveal information about Bookman." The Bookman chided his apprentice who was attempting to crawl out of the stack of papers that had fallen on him.

Again, I voiced what the rest of us were thinking, "Bookman, when did you get here." Unfortunately I was completely ignored this time.

"What's the big deal? I'm going to take over for you soon anyway." Lavi laughed, a book still on his head from when the Bookman kicked him.

"I can't let a greener-than-green novice like you take over. Idiot."

"Koala-faced old man…3" Lavi sang- his teasing did not phase the old man who had turned his attention to Allen.

"Allen Walker."

"Y-yes!" Allen stumped, nervous to be addressed by the seemingly violent Bookman.

"Rest for now. Nothing can be done until Ms. Lena awakens. Take it easy." The Bookman said before tossing Allen, Lavi and I out the door- locking it behind us.

"So… what do you guys want to do now?" I asked.

"I have an idea~" Lavi hummed before walking away. Allen and I looked at each other before following Bookman Jr.

* * *

"So, about how old are you?"

"'Bout 15."

"Ah… I'm older- 18!" Lavi was playing the 'lets-question-Allen' game while making a snowman. I was helping Allen roll up the base of our third snowman.

"And I'm older than all of you- I beat you by a year Lavi." I gloated in triumph.

"Oh- so Lacey-chan's old~" Lavi sang, dodging the snowball I threw at him. "So 15 years old…" Lavi hummed, returning his attention to Allen. "'Cause of that white hair you can't see any dandruff… " He mused.

"What's he going on about?" Allen asked me, clearly not understanding Lavi's train of thought.

"Your guess is as good as mine." I laughed a little, amused at Lavi's randomness.

"Hey, can I call you 'Moyashi'?" Lavi asked- now I really did laugh. Allen's face said that he did not approve. "But Yuu calls you that." Lavi whined.

"Yuu?" Allen asked.

"Huh? You didn't know? That's Kanda's given name. He's Kanda Yuu, yeah? Next time try calling him that- I just know his eyes are going to bulge." Lavi laughed.

"He WILL gut you." I not-so-discreetly whispered to Allen.

"Though I don't think we'll see him for a while." Lavi mused, playing with his snowman. "Seems to me that the next mission is going to be a long, dragged out fight. The Earl is making his move. That's what the appearance of Noah's family means." Allen stilled, "Can't worry too much about it though…" Allen's fists tightened.

"I became an exorcist to destroy akuma, not to kill human beings."

"Allen…" I muttered, putting a hand on his shoulder, he flinched away.

"Ne, moyashi…"

"It's Allen!" He growled at Lavi. "I'm going for a walk, just go back without me." He said before walking away.

"Hmm, yep- definatly a brat." Lavi commented once Allen was out of earshot. "Owwww, Lacey-chan." Lavi moaned after being pelted by a snowball.

"Don't be a jerk, Lavi." I replied, wiping my hands clean of the snow. "Come on, we have to go get him."

* * *

Lavi and I had trailed Allen through the town, he was acting strange. He was jumpy, always looking behind himself- then I remembered his eye wasn't healed. He was so used to being able to identify akuma, that without it, he was defenseless.

"Jane, There's akuma here." Lavi muttered.

"Gotcha, I'll get the civilians out and keep them from ganging up on you."

"Be careful."

"You too." We parted ways. He went to attack the akuma who was posing as a child and had a gun pointed at the back of Allen's head. I was working on herding the crowd away from the battlefield.

"Please, everyone move along, get to your homes." I commanded. The crowd was beginning to panic, and several lunged at me. "Coming your way!" I called back to Lavi as I kicked the attacking akuma into his strike zone. I turned back to see Lavi not only take care of the akuma I directed his way, but also destroy several Level twos by smashing them into the building

"Lavi! Stop going overboard!" I yelled back at him, he gave me a sheepish smile. A policeman had caught Allen by his wrist.

"You're under arrest." He said.

"I don't think so." Lavi replied, pointing his hammer at the man. The policeman then morphed into an akuma-readying to attack Allen. I kicked one of his canons upward as they fired, and Lavi blocked the other with his hammer. We were attacked from above, and forced to retreat to a train yard.

"Man, you're reaction time is slow, Allen… Waiting for the akuma to take shape before starting up your weapon is gonna get you killed." Lavi commented as we retreated.

But how did you know they were akuma?" Allen asked, still clearly upset that he hadn't been much help during the fight.

"I don't know, I'm just suspicious of everything- always suspicious of everyone around me. Someone I met yesterday could be an akuma today. That's just the sort of thing we are up against." Men were beginning to surround us, slowly morphing into their akuma skins. "You should understand that, Allen. We are at an overwhelming disadvantage. We're different that you are- not having that convenient eye. Akuma are mixed in with humans. The other exorcists and I… we end up looking at all human's as the Earl's minions."

"Lavi, you like talking too much." I commented before lunging at the nearest akuma- ready to do my part to support the exorcists.

After exchanging a few blows, I saw an akuma bring out a woman crying for help. Allen shot the akuma and ran up to the woman, ready to help. Before the canon was fully formed out of her head, Allen had shot her. He was learning to become an exorcist, I don't know how I felt about that.

* * *

"How many did you get, Allen?" Lavi asked, breathing hard, laying down on the roof.

"I don't know, like thirty maybe?" Allen responded, equally at exhausted, laying down in the ally way.

"Haha! I win! I got thirty seven!" He called back.

"Lavi! Shut up! Nobody cares!" I called, leaning against the ally wall. Allen smiled at me.

"You're just jealous because your score is ZERO~~~" He sang.

"Stupid Lavi." I muttered, crossing my arms. Allen laughed at me. I smiled back.

* * *

So at the end of each chapter I want to make a goal list of things I hoped to have accomplished within the chapter- this idea is not mine, but I'm afraid I don't recall where I got it from.

1) experiment with time sequencing (like the awkwardly long flashback in the middle)

2) Develop Komui more- I love his spaztastic side, but I also love his 'big brother' mentality that he has (He is definatly my second favorite character)

3)Make Jane a bit more subdued and defensive- just because of the trauma of the last mission- but at the same time she is a big girl and is working to get over it

4) Make Lavi a bit more superficial, I feel like he is getting in too deep too quickly- in the manga it takes a while for this to happen, and I don't want my OC to be an exception to every rule in the manga. I feel like she already is since she's a finder that hangs with the exorcists...sigh

5) work on shorter battle scenes- There are so many in this manga, and I would prefer not to spend half of every chapter rewriting action scenes.

Let me know how I did on my list- Help me, help you have an enjoyable time reading this chapter: REVIEW!


	11. Chapter 11

So- Another chapter is complete! Definatly a bit shorter than my others, but I feel like that was a good stopping point. Krory will be here next chapter~

On another note- please go read D Gray Man chapter 31 pages 1-12; its hilarious- love you Hoshino3

Which is a wonderful segway inot: I do not own any of D. Gray Man- it belongs to Katsura Hoshino. I DO own Jane and possibly Kanda's sentimental side- That's right folks, he has one, so keep your attention on the story because you never know when it will appear~

Kanda: Bitch, I don't have a sentimental side.

It's there Kanda, you just keep it trapped in an iron wrought cage

Kanda: Che, Whatever.

I'll take that as an agreement- Please enjoy the story!

* * *

"Hold on tight!" Lavi called as we sailed through the air on his hammer. Allen was yelling, but I was laughing. I never thought I would be able to fly- leave it to Lavi to use his innocence's 'growing' ability to send us flying through the air. "Having fun Lacey-chan?"

"'O course- tis is da most fun I've 'ad in mont's!" I cried back. My accent slipped, but that was okay. I took it as a sign that I was recovering emotionally from the last mission. I was happy to be flying through the air with Lavi and Allen.

"L-lavi? Don't you think we're getting too close?" I heard Allen call out. I looked to see the clinic we were headed towards- he was right, we weren't slowing down.

"Lavi! Slow down!" I commanded. Lets not play the 'crash-through-the-building' game, it just doesn't seem as fun as the 'lets-land–without-collateral-damage' game.

"Hold on tight, guys!" Lavi called. Allen and I both screamed as we went crashing through the building.

"Lavi, you idiot." I coughed. "What do ya tink your doin'?"

"Jane?" I looked up to see Komui and Lenalee standing above me. "What happened?"

"Blame Jr. ov'r there! 'e can't even drive 'is own innocence." I complained, brushing the rumble off my lap.

"You used that to fly again, Lavi…" Komui muttered, surveying the damage he would have to compensate for.

"'e makes a 'abit of tis?" I asked, dramatically pointing at the goofy idiot himself.

"Good to see you too, Jane." Lenalee giggled. I smiled as she gave me a quick hug- Komui sent me an envious look.

"Ahahahaha- my bad! This thing is really convenient, but its damn hard to brake." Lavi laughed, finally standing out of the crater he made, rubbing the back of his head.

"Is he referring to his innocence?" Komui whispered to me.

"'fraid so." I whispered back with a disproving shake of my head- Komui followed suit and Lavi just continued to grin at us.

"It felt good though, right Allen?" Lavi looked around for his white-haired companion. "Allen? I didn't think we lost him during the landing…."

"You damn brats…" The Bookman growled- clearly ticked that Allen had landed on him. Lavi whimpered, and I hid behind Komui- note to self, don't tick off the Bookman.

* * *

The horse drawn carriage thundered through the silent night- racing to the train station in the next town. Due to the akuma attack at the train yard, we had to reroute our travels to the next closest train station. I was riding in the cabin with the exorcists, Komui believed that I needed to be just as informed as the exorcists about the current situation.

"Are you guys okay?" Komui asked, obviously not all that concerned with our pained expressions. Another reason I was riding in the carriage was so that the Bookman to punish me along with Allen and Lavi for crashing into the clinic. The three of us were currently sitting in senzai.

"Yes…" the three of us groaned at the same time- not like we could complain infront of the Bookman.

"Then let's talk about the mission." Komui began, "A few days ago a general was murdered." The atmosphere in the carriage became tense, I held my breath. A general? Killed? It was unheard of- they were supposed to be the strongest of the strong. "The one assassinated was General Kevin Yeager. Even though he was the eldest general, he was always the type to serve on the front lines."

"What happened to him…?" Lenalee muttered. I grabbed her hand, she squeezed back.

"He was found in Belgium, nailed to a cross backwards. The words 'God Hunt' was carved into his back." Komui continued the solem news.

"God hunt?" Allen questioned.

"Komui, does that mean the innocence-?" Lavi began, leaving off the end to have Komui fill in the blank.

"Looks like it. The General was involved in a search for people who are compatible with the innocence. He carried a variety of innocence with him. General Yeager had eight of them in his possession. Including the one powering the General's own anti-akuma weapon, nine were stolen."

"Nine?" I muttered to myself. Nine innocence were now in the hands of the enemy.

"He was crucified and suffered from multiple fatal wounds, but he kept singing until his last breath- 'the Millennium count…is searching….searching for the precious heart…it wasn't me…who'll be next…?'"

"The Millenium Count?" Lavi questioned.

"Its appears to be the Earl's nickname." Komui curtly replied. "The Noah that Allen and Lenalee encountered called him that too."

"Um, what's the 'precious heart'?" Allen asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"One of the 109 innocence that we are searching for. The core of all innocence is called 'the heart'. It is the root of all the power of innocence, and can return all innocence to nothingness. If we have it in our possession, it will be the first time that we can gain the power to stop the end. The heart is the Earl's target."

"Where is that innocence- the heart, I mean?" I asked.

"Dunno." Komui responded with a defeated sigh- the entire carriage deadpanned.

"Huh?" We all responded.

"Actually its very annoying. The cube had nothing noted in it about what kind o innocence it is, nothing about signs or distinctions, nothing~~~ You know we even had Hebra look into our innocence in possession, but there is just no way to tell which is the heart. It may be that we've already collected it, or maybe someone might have been its apostle already…No matter how brilliant I am, there just aren't many clues! It's a real problem, you know. I'm very busy too- these ancients should consider that and at least write a hint in there, they're so stingy…" Komui rambled.

"Komui, calm down. We're not blaming you for not finding the heart." I said, trying to give the man some mild comfort. "But considering what you've just told us, the General is only the first victim. The Earl probably thinks that of all the innocence compatible people there are, there is a good chance that 'the heart' resides in people with the most power. The appearance of the akuma and now Noah's family and the heightened military strength are all probably because of the 'God Hunt'."

"You're correct, Jane." Komui said regaining his serious composure. " The exorcist General's have become their new targets. That is probably the meaning of the message as well. It is very likely that the same message was sent to other exorcists too."

"At any rate, the apostle for that innocence would almost certainly have as much strength as a general." Lavi commented.

"Still, a simultaneous attack by both Noah's family and the akuma would be too much, even for a General. Exorcists from all over are being recalled and divided into four groups. The mission this time is to guard the Generals. Your team will guard General Cross."

"But we aren't aware of the General's position at any given time." I said, pointing out the obvious problem in the whole 'guarding' plan.

"That's because the Generals don't take orders from me, it's the commander-in-chief who gives out their orders. The Generals are assigned multiple orders at once and may carry them out according to their own judgment. Then again, three of the remaining four generals regularly contact headquarters once a month- so we know approximately where they are… the problem is one! General Cross Marian!" Komui dramatically exclaimed, holding up one finger for emphasis. " According to our information, there has been no word from General Cross in almost four years. Therefore we can conclude 1) 'He's dead' or 2) 'He's ignoring us and just playing around'. –For your information my bets are on option #2- BUT! Then appeared Allen!" Komui then pointed to Allen dramatically with his pinky finger. Sometimes I was embarrassed to call this man my boss, but I suppose he could be worse. "As Cross' disciple, you've been traveling with him for three years…" Komui's eyes glinted dangerously as he gripped Allen's shoulders.

"I-It's no good, I have no idea where the master is." Allen stuttered, mildly freaked out by Komui's sudden intrusion into his personal space.

"Komui, how do we go about locating a missing person?" Lavi asked, distracting Komui from his death grip on Allen.

"The other teams will depend on the disciples of various Generals. But in our case we'll use Tim to guide us." Komui explained.

"Tim? You mean Allen's golem?" I asked, referring to the yellow golem who was currently attempting to eat the curtains inside the carriage. Also a renowned scientist, Cross was the maker of this little golem, and should as such, he should be able to tell us where Cross is. After that, since Allen is familiar with his movements patterns, locating Cross be like drowning a trapped rat!" Komui said before erupting in laughter.

"Brother… that's a bit…" Lenalee began, but stopped when she failed to find a word to describe her brother's excentric behavior.

"Morbid? Insane? Corrupted?" I offered.

"I'd go with insane." Lavi concluded as we continued to watch Komui cackle at the thought of capturing Cross. "Definatly insane."

* * *

"Allen! The train is here!" Lenalee called from the doorway of the train station.

"Lavi, what are you doing?" I asked, observing the apprentice doodle on Allen's sleeping face.

"Idiot apprentice." The Bookman grumbled, smacking the back of Lavi's head. Allen was twitching and mumbling in his sleep.

"Hey Allen, are you okay?" I asked, shaking his shoulder a bit.

"Guaaaa…Master's not….not human." He grumbled.

"Haha, he's dreaming about General Cross again." Lavi laughed before receiving another blow to the head from the Bookman.

"Everyone, Hurry and get on! If we miss this one, there won't be another train until tomorrow!" Lenalee called again.

"You guys go on, I'll help Allen clean off in the bathroom." I said, pulling the still half sleeping boy to the bathroom in order to wash of his face. I heard Lavi snicker, but I grinned when I heard the Bookman give him another sharp whack on his head. "C'mon Allen, ya look ridiculous." I said, wetting a towel before beginning to clean off Lavi's graffiti from his face.

"Geez that's cold." He flinched away from the wet wash cloth.

"Sorry, but da train is 'ere and we don't 'ave time ta wait fer da water ta warm up….Allen, what's wrong?" I asked, observing his uncharacteristically disgruntled expression.

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing." He looked away, almost embarrassed to be caught with such a look on his face.

"Spit it out, Allen- we're not getting on da train until ya tell me." I said, putting down the cloth I was cleaning his face with. "Is it about da Noah Family?"

"No- I mean, that still bothers me- but that isn't what I'm thinking about." He mumbled, absently stroking Tim.

"Is it Cross?" I took his silence as an affirmative. "Allen, don't worry, we'll find 'im."

"That's what I'm worried about." He muttered offhandedly.

"Allen, 'e can't be tat bad."

"You say that now…." I smiled and ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry about it now- from what Komui said it'll be a while until ya find 'im."

"You're right- I'll be there in a minute- go ahead and get on the train." He said, lightly swatting away my hand that had been on his head. I nodded before heading back out to the train. I walked out to see Lenalee.

"Lenalee, are you waiting for someone?" I asked- she was just leaning against the wall, obviously waiting for someone.

"Nope." She said sweetly- I sweat dropped. She's a bit of an obvious liar.

"What's wrong, Lenalee- its not like you to lie to me." I asked, giving her a serious look.

"Its honestly nothing, Jane."

"It's Allen." I said- she looked away. "Lenalee, we're on a mission."

"I know!" She countered quickly. I raised my hands in mock defense.

"Hey, whatever it is- fix it soon. You need a level head for this mission." I said before lightly bonking her on the head with my fist. "He's a good kid Lenalee- make up soon."

"Kay." She muttered, lowering her head. I continued making my way to the train.

"Nice job, referee." Lavi commented when I boarded the train. I scowled at him- nicknames were getting old.

"It's Jane, Lavi." He smiled like a kid who got pleasure out of grinding on people's nerves- probably because he was a kid who got pleasure out of grinding on people's nerves.

"I know~" He sang. "So Lacey-chan, is referee in your job description?"

"Might as well be- someone has to keep their raging hormones in check." I sighed before sitting.

"So who keeps your hormones in check?" He asked, scooting closer.

"Creep." I muttered- he laughed. "Is everything a game to you Lavi?" I asked.

"Yep~" He grinned- I poked him in his cheek, but he just kept on grinning.

* * *

"Jane, where are you going?" Lenalee asked once the train had departed.

"Setting up a perimeter." I said, continuing my surveillance.

"People are looking at you funny." She persisted.

"People might be akuma." I reminded her- she crossed her arms and pouted. "Listen, you guys can have your little exorcist powwow- I'll do my job as a finder." I said before walking down the train car. I liked hanging out with Lenalee, Lavi and Allen- but the look the Bookman sent me reminded me that I was on the mission. I was the second oldest in our group and needed to be responsible. I needed to do my job.

But it was hard when Lenalee liked to hook arms with me and talk about gossip. It was hard when Lavi liked teased me and I liked to react childishly. It was hard when Allen liked my accent and I felt at home with him. It was hard to be a finder surrounded by exorcists who didn't understand how easy it was to die to battle. I didn't want anyone to suffer if I died- yet I know Jonny and Tapp would cry and Reever would bury himself in work. Komui would pretend to be okay, but he would really be blaming himself. Lenalee would cry and lock herself in her room. Allen would clench his fist. Lavi might even be serious for a change. Arduino would stop playing his violin…I wonder what Kanda would do…

I was pulled from my thoughts when the train stopped at the next station- and the parasitic exorcist left to get food, big surprise there. I saw Lenalee confront him- maybe they would resolve whatever happened on their last mission. I looked over to see Lavi watching them too with a small smile on his face- the Bookman was still looking at the map. I went over an he explained that we were traveling east, and that that was the only lead we had right now on Cross' position.

"Bookman, what do you know of Japan?" I asked- that seemed to even draw in Lavi's attention.

"Depends, what do you know of Japan?" He coolly countered.

"Just rumors, finder's haven't been sent there in over a decade. I know its inhabited my high level akuma, and its my theory that it is where the Earl is. It only makes sense he would live in the Akuma's nest. Cross is also East- it would make sense that he would be moving toward Japan."

"Your theory is correct." The Bookman said. "Jane, what do you know of the Noah Family?"

"They are marked by their grey skin and cross markings across their forehead, wrists, and ankles. They are human, yet their abilities would suggest otherwise."

"Correct again, these rumors carry an abnormally high level of validity." The Bookman narrowed his eyes at me.

"You forget that I am a higher ranking finder- it is my job to know more than common field workers."

"And where did you learn of this information?" the Bookman questioned me.

"In America I was sent to a church to investigate odd activity with the clergy. During my investigation, I witnessed the birth of a Noah. He went my the name of Bolic." I said.

"So you have seen a Noah?" Lavi asked, eyes widened.

"Two, the Noah Road Camelot was also there- along with the Earl."

"You've seen the Millenium Count!?" The Bookamn earnestly questioned.

"Yes…they did not see me…Though I had met the Earl before…"

"What do you mean 'before'?" Lavi asked, but before I would refuse to answer him, Lenalee came onto the train car. She began chatting with the two other exorcists, but I focused on the scenery out the window. I didn't want to think about my encounter with the Earl- it did not bring up fond memories. I heard the train whistle to signal its departure- it reminded me of a scream.

We lurched forward. "Hey, guys, where's Allen?" Lavi asked. I looked up to see the dumbfounded look on all of the surrounding exorcists.

"I'll start looking." I said before getting up to search the train cars. I was glad to get away from the Bookman's inquisitive stare.

* * *

"Why me?" Lavi asked, unamused that we were kicking him off the train to search for Allen.

"Lavi, you have too, we can't find Allen anywhere." Lenalee pleaded.

"Shouldn't we send the finder, because according to her name she should be able to, you know, find things?" Lavi asked. "Ow, Lacey-chan, please remove your foot from my stomach- you'll push me over the railing."

"That would be the point- now get your lazy bum out of here and bring back Allen." I commanded.

"Fine." He grumbled before jumping off the train and, using his hammer, sailed through the sky.

"If he's not back in 24 hours I'll go after them- you two will continue to go after the General." I said, holding my hair out of my face as it whipped around in the wind. Lenalee looked at me with concern, but the Bookman nodded his head in agreement with my decision. We re-entered the train car and waited.

* * *

I missed Kanda. Not because of his bitchiness, nor because of any miniscual endearing qualities that might be under said bitchiness. I missed him because of his silence. His silence was natural, and even in his worst moods- it wasn't tense. It was just silence with no baggage. Just being quiet. If he wanted to know something he would ask. If he wanted to be angry, he would be angry. If he wanted to bitch, he would bitch. And when he wasn't doing one of those three things, he was quiet.

Honestly the Bookman could take a few notes from the wannabe samurai. I feel as if the tension between the Bookman and myself was tangible. Maybe I just never noticed it before because Lavi was there to be an idiot and lighten the mood. I squirmed under his gaze, so I tried to distract myself by picking at my split ends

I was twirling my hair and found my thoughts again drifting to the sword-wielding exorcist. I thought of his hair- how brittle it was. Dumbass used soap- I still couldn't believe he admitted to that. Though in his eyes it probably wasn't such a big deal.

I had been on three missions with him- I had only been on two with Lenalee. The only person who topped his mission number was Suman- I had been on five missions with Suman during the past year. I didn't consider us close though, I had been new to the order when I worked with him and was reluctant to mix personal relationships with missions.

I wonder if Kanda would consider me close, certainly closer than the average finder. He did growl at me a lot though- but I'm sure he did that to everyone. He had saved me on more than one occasion- which had to mean something in Kanda's weird way of expressing himself. I'm sure no one can be 100% bitchy all the way through. He had to have things that he cared about, like Mugen, and Soba, and his samurai pride. I knew he got along with Lenalee. That didn't bother me. That can't bother me.

I turned my thoughts to the boy that was with him- little Arduino. I hoped Kanda was treating him well. I hadn't called yet, so I decided to the end of the train car and hook my finder box up to a transceiver line- if I did it right then I should be able to get a connection with my phone.

"Black Order Field System- Activated. How may I help you Finder 19372?" The receiver line asked. I was in the back of the car, so hopefully I wasn't disturbing too many people

"Request connection to Exorcist: Kanda Yuu."

"Request confirmed…connecting…" The line went fuzzy, then I heard the line which over to the golem.

"Kanda?" I asked.

"Finder? Why are you calling?" He asked, gruff as ever.

"Is Arduino there?"

"Yeah, he's sleeping. It's the middle of the night."

"Oh, I'm sorry- I didn't even realize." I said, flustered from my mistake- how did I not realize it was the middle of the night? The line was quiet. "Kanda?"

"What is it, woman?" He sighed.

"'Woman'? Is that an upgrade from 'finder'?" I asked, looking for something to talk about.

"No." He flatly stated. "You're still just a useless underling."

"Why you-" And to think I actually wanted to talk to this prick. "-you prick!"

"Took you a second to think of a comeback- you're slower than I thought, Lacey." I could feel him smirking through the phone.

"Wipe that damn smirk off you're face, you inconsiderate bastard!" I yelled into the phone.

"Bitch, don't call me if you're just going to insult me. This line is for missions, not personal chit-chat."

"I was calling for Arduino."

"Well he's not awake- you can call the brat when he gets to headquarters."

"Don't call him a brat-"

"I can call him whatever I want- I'm the one hauling his ass around." Again, silence.

"How's he doing?" I eventually asked.

"He's not cut to be an exorcist." At least Kanda was honest.

"How do you know?"

"Gets nightmares too easy- least he has the decency not to cry all the time."

"You treat him well, do you hear me?" I was gripping the phone tightly, curled up, leaning against my transceiver box in the back of the train. "You can't let anything happen to him."

"You made your point before- now are you going to keep yapping all night long, or can I get back to my mission?"

"What mission? You're just keeping watch." I heard him growl.

"Whatever- at least I'm doing something."

"Hey! I am too- I'm on the Cross unit, we're looking for the General."

"What are you going to do? Seduce him out of hiding?" Did he just call me a whore?

"I can take a lot of things- but bein' called a whore is not one of 'em!"

"My bad- I forgot, you're just a country bumpkin, no one would fall for you."

"You ass!" I clicked the line off.

Maybe what Lenalee had with him did bother me. But I didn't know why.

I held onto the fact he had saved my life, but even then a few tears slid down my face.

"Must be that time of the month- don't go getting all emotional on me." I muttered to myself, furiously rubbing my eyes.

I dont think Kanda would do anything if I died- and that bothered me too.

* * *

Goal Time

1) Work through Komui's long informative monologues- I was not looking forward to writing those out.

2) Work more on Lavi's superficiality

3) Build tension between Jane and Bookman- because it would be weird if everyone loved her 24/7

4) Have Jane show more emotions- Yes she is spunky, strong willed, and tends to show a motherly side to those who are younger than her (or act younger, in Komui's case). But I want her to be a dynamic character, which means she shows more than just happy and strong. She can be sad (aka- from last mission), or can be upset from people (aka- Kanda).

I know I ramble about Jane a lot- my friends know this. But I want her to have defining characteristics AND I want her to be normal girl (with normal girl emotions). Does that make sense? She's not a superhero, she's just a girl who is doing her best to defend the planet…. So maybe that does sound a bit like a superhero, but you hopefully get the drift.

Anyways, thank you for reading, it means a lot to me3

PS- All Irish readers, if I am not spot on with all things concerning Ireland that pop up in the story- PLEASE correct me. It is not my intent to offend anyone.


	12. Chapter 12

Hello all- I know it has been a while, but I am still here and this story is still in progress! First semester of college is hectic, and although I have more classes next semester, they should be easier than the ones I took this semester- which will hopefully equate to more writing time (haha, maybe). Anyways- please enjoy, I would love to hear what you think of the story so far/ where you would like it to go. I have a general plan, but nothing is set in stone.

All characters and credit for the original D Gray Man plot goes to Hoshino-sensei

Thanks for reading~

* * *

It had been twenty-four hours. I had slept at the back of the train, still curled up against my finder box. I didn't want to have to socialize with Lenalee after my conversation with Kanda, I would have only been upset with her- and I do not like to encourage drama on missions. No, I would have to keep my emotions to myself.

It bothered me that Kanda had effected me so much- I got upset over his insinuation that I was a whore. I had been called worse, but it bothered me that Kanda had gone that far. Maybe it would have been different if I would have been there. I would have tugged on his hair and called him a girl. Or I might have made fun of his wannabe samurai pride.

But I wouldn't have been bothered.

I wouldn't have taken him seriously.

I wouldn't have cried.

I took a deep breath before approaching Lenalee and the Bookman about retrieving Allen and Lavi. I needed to put aside my emotions right now and focus on locating the two missing exorcists. I would have been worried, except for the fact that we were missing Allen and Lavi. Knowing those two, they were probably fine. Lavi was most likely goofing around and Allen was trying to act mature, but neither of them had a very good sense of direction. Why do you think the Order has Finders? Or golems for that matter- Exorcists, besides the whole purifying akuma thing, were surprisingly directionally challenged.

"Bookman, Lenalee, I'll be leaving now to search for Allen and Lavi." I said, approaching them.

"Alright, but do you think you could take Tim to look for Allen?' Lenalee asked.

"No, you need him to track the General. I'll be fine- Somehow I don't think those two will be too hard to find." I commented, scratching my check.

"You are right again, Miss Daly- those two idiots will paint targets on themselves for you." The Bookman said, finally acknowledging my presence. "I will request that you make contact with us every day you are gone though- I would like to be updated on the situation."

"Understood- I have contacted the local church and they have prepared a horse for me. If I do not contact you within the next thirty-six hours, assume the worse. And may God favor your search for General Cross." I bowed stiffly before turning on my heel to leave. I had reached the end of the train car when I felt a tug at my sleeve.

"May God also favor your search." Lenalee said before giving me a quick hug. "Exorcists don't believe in goodbyes, so I guess I'll see you later." Lenalee said, uncomfortable with the formal atmosphere.

"I'll see you later- maybe we can eat Jerry's food together soon." I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"And maybe then, you will tell me what bothered you over the phone last night." I gave her a sheepish grin.

"Maybe- Gotta go." I waved before exiting the train. I took a breath before settling on the fact that I would have to jump off the train- as lovely of an idea as it is, it wasn't too thrilled about the bruises I was about to receive. I jumped from the standing platform and rolled onto the ground to absorb the impact of the fall. I quickly got up and oriented myself to the train line and what towns surrounded the area. I would need to travel two miles south to meet up with the horse- then I would need to begin traveling west to follow the direction Lavi went in. All I would have to do was ask the villages about a man riding a giant hammer and I should get some answers.

Soon enough, I met up with a grey daple with an Arabian face- she wasn't big, but she was light and nimble on her feet. She anxiously danced under me once I had mounted- but as soon as I gave her a direction she gave a quick buck and was off like a bullet. I had to constantly correct her direction, she had a tendency to stray to the left. After a mile or two, her pace had slowed to a trot, but I pushed her back into a loping canter- promising that she could rest at the next village.

She didn't get much rest- as soon as I watered her and tied her up, all it took was a few questions on my part to the stale hand and we were off again. Apparently he had seen a man riding a long pole the night before last. He corrected my direction and sent me to a village in the southwest where a Baron ruled the village- his castle was famous for local artists (which the stableboy happened to be aspiring to be). I wished him the best of luck, and thanked him for his time.

The grey and I were off again, I let her keep a fast-paced trot for a mile for a break before pushing her back into a canter. She was rather obstinate about her lead, always picking the opposite from what I signaled- so I just began asking for the opposite of what I needed. By the time we got to the next village the sun had set and the daple was winded.

I got off of her and loosened her girth- she then released a heavy sigh. I walked her to the stables and had her boarded and taken care of by the thin stable boy. He knew nothing of Lavi or Allen, so I went to the town's church instead.

"Hello?" I asked, my voice echoed off the hollow cavern otherwise known as the town's church. "Is anybody here?" I asked again- and again my voice echoed. I looked behind myself before deciding it was safe, "BA-KA-N-DA~" I sang. The church echoed back at me. "Glad to hear you agree." I muttered before turning to leave, a bit more of a hop in my step.

I arrived at the town center, only to find that the town had all but been deserted. "Is anyone here?" I called out rather loudly. The wind whipped my hair around my face, so I tied it back with the blue ribbon. The town really was deserted- and only the wind made any sound as it whistled passed my ear. I turned into the wind to see the castle, and the tiny glowing dots decorated the landscape around it. The villagers must have been in the woods surrounding the castle- but why would they be swarming the Baron's castle?

Then I saw the giant hammer…..

Oh Lavi- someone does not know the meaning of the term 'discreet'. I grit my teeth and began the climb up to the castle- only that idiot would take out his giant hammer around a historical site like a castle. I soon reached the first torch light and asked about what was happening. It was held by a man in his mid-thirties with a broad chest and chestnut beard.

"You sure missed a lot." He chuckled. "Follow me and we'll talk." He directed me towards the castle. "Two men wearing black cloaks and a cross over their chest came to the village. We were informed by a man with a golden cross that the men with the silver cross could help us-

"Wait- a golden cross? You mean a general?" I interjected.

"Uh, sure kid. I don't know what a general is- but he had long red hair and had a golden cross."

"Was his name General Marian Cross?" I asked earnestly as we continued our way up to the castle.

"Yeah- it was Marian, I always thought it was an odd name for a man, but I suppose that's an issue to raise with his mother, right?"

"Um, sure…" The idea that General Cross had a mother made me slightly concerned- how do you raise something THAT precotious . " Did he say where he was going?"

"I dunno. The train he was taking was carrying him south, but then I think he was taking another one to get him further east." The man said, scratching his chin. "Why are you so intrigued in all this Church business anyways?"

"Please excuse my rudeness. I'm Jane Daly, I work as support for the exorcists in the field."

"Gotcha- well, my name is William Erving, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"William Erving? Not from around here are you?" His name suggests he came from western Europe- perhaps even America by his slight accent.

"Born and raised in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains- came over here to do some training as a painter. Did you know this castle is famous for its picturesque setting?"

"Yeah, I heard." I replied dully. My mind was racing, I could hear a battle taking place closer to the castle. I needed to evacuate the area. I needed to find General Cross. I needed to hit Allen over the head for making my job more difficult. And Lavi- well I might just hit him regaurdless to relieve some stress. Too much to do, and not enough time in the day.

When William and I got close to the castle I told him to go back to town- it was far to dangerous here. He reluctantly obliged- saying he would try and get others off the summit as well. I thanked him and we parted ways.

I approached the castle with caution- surveying the large rubble surrounding the castle wall- no doubt, work from Lavi's infamous hammer. I also saw a bunch of holes in the ground, and upon closer inspection, they were coffins. Someone had dug out a bunch of coffins, but the boxes were all covered with the plagued Akuma star.

"Who goes out of their way to bury akuma?" I muttered to myself. I heard a canon blast, it was either and akuma or Allen's new innocence. Either way I would hopefully run into an exorcist.

I ran into the castle, and found Allen- I silently thanked fate for my luck.

"Allen!" I cried in excitement- one exorcists down, one idiot to go on me 'to find' checklist.

"J-Jane?" He called back, startled that I emerged in the middle of his fight scene. "What are you doing here? It isn't safe." He said, putting a protective arm around me.

"What's going on- where's Lavi?" I questioned him.

"Listen, this is going to take a while to explain. We found a new accomadator- but he thinks he's a vampire that only kills humans. But in reality, he is only attacking akuma-"

"So those were what the coffins in the yard were for." I interrupted him, he was leading me to a corner- probably hoping I would be a good little Finder and hide until the battle was over.

"Right, but the thing is, he is taking orders from a Level two akuma who he believes is his friend."

"So right now he's not on our side." I said. Allen used one arm to pin me against the wall while surveying the area for enemies. He really was on edge, eyes darting back and forth across the stony rubble of the castle's remains.

"Correct- right now Lavi is engaging the accomadator, and I just took care of the level two akuma."

"If you just took care of the akuma, why do you look like you're protecting me?" I asked, getting a bit irked by his behavior. "I can protect meself ya know."

"Oh, haha- sorry Jane." He laughed nevously- suddenly realizing who he was dealing with. He pulled back some, but I grabbed his arm to inspect the damage it had received.

"Plus- yer arm looks like a wreck. Should I call Komui out fer a field repair?" I asked, inspecting the young exorcists arm, turning it over and running my fingers along the inflamed veins. Allen always made my accent slip, its like my body just knew I could be myself around him.

"Ahahaha- you're so funny Jane. I'm fine- I promise. There's no need to do something drastic like that." He laughed nervously, pulling his arm back from me.

"Just be careful wit it Allen- yer stressing it out too much." I chided. "Now, we need ta find Lavi and tis new accomadator."

"Okay- but stay close. Krory is incredibly fast."

"Krory?" I asked as we began to leave the safety of the rubble.

"He's the accomadator- as well as the Baron of this castle." Allen explained- offering his hand whenever we had to climb up or jump down from large rocks. Such a gentleman. After a few minutes of searching for the red haired menace, the entire castle began to shake. The structure around us let out a low groan before giving way.

"C'mon!" I yelled at Allen, pulling him to a low standing arch way. The bricks tumbled around us- but the archway never caved. "Lavi…." I growled.

"Nice call." Allen huffed, surveying the damage around us. I don't think the castle would be standing much longer- we needed to get outside the walls before Lavi and Krory destroyed the place.

"We still need ta get outside period- the ceiling will crush us if we stay here much longer." I said to Allen- hoping that he would start helping me find a route outside.

"Right- follow me." Allen said, leading me away from the arch. A few minutes later we managed to find our way outside. "Lucky I remembered the way out." Allen muttered.

"Yeah- but where is Lavi?" I asked. All of the sudden, Allen pulled me back, and the area in front of me exploded. I held onto the young exorcist- but continued to peer at the spot I was just standing in. When the dust cleared I saw a pale man with a white strip of white hair and fangs- growling art me. "K-krory?" I stuttered.

"My reputation precedes me." He said in a low baritone voice, as he began to slowly pick himself up.

"Where is Lavi?" I was becoming more assertive.

"The boy with the ridiculous red hair? I left him back near the graveyard- poor lad just couldn't keep up." He rubbed his claws on his shirt in a prideful manner. "Now where is Eliade?"

"Eliade?" I whispered to Allen.

"The level two akuma." He whispered back. "I left her in the castle- she just couldn't seem to keep up." Allen replied- mocking the Barron.

"Why you?" He growled, but before he could lunge for us- Lavi's hammer swung down on him.

"Gotcha now- Kuro-chan!" Lavi sang from the other end of him hammer.

"Damn brat!" Krory exclaimed, throwing the hammer away from himself. Allen had pulled me away from the squabble- towards the castle wall.

"Allen… your eye…" I commented- it had some sort of clockwork structure around it. The last time I had seen it, it had been unusable- now it was fully functioning. For a curse, it had its perks.

"I regained my abilities during my last encounter with the level two akuma- this seems to be the newest advancement of my curse." He explained. "Though I don't know why its acting up on its own."

"Allen- did you finish your battle with the level two?" I asked- I really hope he didn't just leave a Level two Akuma running around.

"You came all of the sudden- I mean, I thought I finished it off." He mumbled to himself, as if recalling the fight. Bubbles suddenly began to appear around the battle ground, as if floating from within the castle. "Everyone! Don't touch the bubbles!" Allen called, pulling me away from one that was floating towards me.

"What's wrong with the bubbles?" I asked- honestly, what could be wrong with bubbles? They appeared harmless, just a little on the massive side.

"They drain all the water out of everything they touch." Allen explained- so much for harmless bubbles.

"I'm gonna go on a hunch and say the akuma you were battling is going to make an appearance." I commented.

"I'd say you're right." He replied. The Akuma burst threw the castle wall- but it wasn't like a normal akuma. There was a crying skeleton chained to the top of it- it had a star on its head.

"W-what is that?" I asked, holding a shaky finger to point to the chained soul. I knew the soul was tied to the akuma- but not like this. Not in constant agony. I didn't know they could see all of the destruction that their body caused. I didn't know it was worse than hell.

"You can see it too now?" Allen asked absently. "Perhaps the curse is getting stronger."

"Moyashi! Look out!" Lavi yelled at us- at his call I tackled Allen to the ground- instinct I suppose- but it saved Allen all of the water in his head.

"Sorry- c'mon." Allen said, quickly pulling me away from target range of the akuma.

"Eliade…" I heard Krory mutter. I turned to see Krory approaching the level two akuma. "Eliade, my love, what are you doing?" He asked.

"What I was programmed to do." The akuma replied mechanically before attacking Krory with her deadly bubbles.

"Eliade! Stop!" He cried before being trapped by the bubbles. He literally withered away. Nothing but his skin sagged down to the ground.

"No!" I shouted as Allen grabbed me and pulled me back further.

"Get out of here Jane- Its too dangerous for you to be here right now." He ordered. I was a good finder. I need to listen to him. I should have listened to him.

* * *

Allen dashed back onto the battlefield to assist Lavi who was failing miserably at popping the bubbles with his hammer. Luckily Allen's canon did the trick, but he was still exhausted from his previous encounter with the Level two Akuma- even with Lavi's help, Eliade had the upper hand. There had to be something they could do. I saw Krory's withered corpse. I saw his hand twitch. He was alive.

I ran onto the battlefield and knelt beside him. "Krory, Krory, please answer me." I muttered, shaking his husk of a body.

"Bl…d." He groaned.

"Thank God you're alright." I sighed in relief. I began to turn his body, hoping I would be able to drape it over myself and carry him off the field. As my hand reached toward his face, his fangs lashed out at bit my finger. "Ow! Krory, stop, you only drink akuma blood."

"Blood…" He moaned. My blood couldn't fuel his body the way akuma blood did- his innocence wouldn't react to my blood. He needed akuma blood, and I knew just the place to get it from.

"Hang on Krory." I grunted as I pulled his withered corpse over my shoulder. I slowly made my way around the castle, silently praying that Lavi and Allen could hold their own against the level two akuma. I found the graves with the akuma bodies in them. "Here, all the blood you cold ever want." I muttered, laying him down in one to the coffins. His teeth instantly latched onto the corpse- draining it of its blood, while simultaneously filling Krory up again. He quickly moved onto the next akuma, and the next, until every corpse was dry and crumbled to dust.

"Krory, you have to go help Allen and Lavi." I said, tugging on his sleeve to catch his attention. His eyes quickly turned to me and he sneered.

"Why should I help your friends who have destroyed my castle? My Eliade?" He jerked his sleeve away as if I was a nuisance.

"That akuma is what destroyed your castle, its been manipulating you!" I challenged. "Allen and Lavi want to help you."

"They were commissioned by the village to kill me!" He roared in my face.

"They probably thought you were an akuma!" I yelled back with equal force. "But seeing as you are not, and you don't kill innocent people like your friend over there," I gestured to where Eliade's battle was taking place. "Allen and Lavi just want to help you."

"And what of you? Don't you fear the Vampire?" He voice was quiet and small. At that instant I realized why he clinged to the akuma, he was lonely. I swallowed down my worry and stepped towards Krory, placing a hand on his shoulder so that he would turn to face me.

"I do not." I smiled at him. "You are not some monster that needs to be exterminated. You are meant to be an exorcist and to protect people."

"Protect people?" He questioned, turning more to face me.

"Yes, people that care for your wellbeing, like Allen and Lavi. And right now they need your help."

"My Eliade…."

"She is no longer the same person she was." I said. His face fell, but I saw his jaw clentch. He laid his hand over mine and gave it a tight squeeze before pulling it off of his cloak.

"I will be off then." Was all he said before he disappeared from my sight.

* * *

I began to make my way to the other side of the castle, I knew I may not be able to help in this battle, but I hoped to watch from afar just to make sure everything was alright. Hopefully with Krory there the odds would be better.

I turned the final corner of the castle to see Krory sink his teeth into the akuma, into his Eliade. He pulled away and the akuma named Eliade stroked his face before slowly disintegrating. He held her close until there was nothing left. His hand balled up into fists as he attempted to grasp the dust that was left. He brought it to his face and fell to his knees.

Allen and Lavi were standing to the side, attempting to give his some privacy. I walked up and placed my hand on his shoulder. He leaned into my legs for support. He was crying.

"My Eliade…"

* * *

Woot Woot- first chapter in a while! I am excited to announce that the original plot I had for this story will start mounting in the next chapter!

Here's my 'To-Do' list

1) contain the whole Krory arc (save the train scene), within one chapter

2) Get past my own damn laziness and actually publish something over break

3) Take a Kanda break (woops- slipped a bit with the Bakanda momment)

Please review- it helps me release chapters faster!


	13. Chapter 13

Special thanks to BloodStainsOnMyKisses, The EPIC Ninja of AWESOMENESS, WhiteTiger BlackWolf, and Hikiri for all reviewing. After I posted the last chapter I went to go see the Hobbit (its absolutly amazing btw), and I came back to three reviews! It made me so happy that I started working on this next chapter right away. Glad to see that you all still like reading the story- it means a lot that you would still read it after not updating in such a long time. As a note, I completely intend to finish this story- I dont think its fair to you as the readers or to Jane if I didnt.

I do not own any part of the Original D Gray Man series, credit goes to Hoshino-sensei.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Well that's an unexpected acquisition." Komui responded to my recount of Krory's report.

"Yes, it is… What should we do with him? Do you want me to bring him back to base?" I asked the supervisor, trying my best to block out the noise in the train station terminal we were waiting in.

"No, that's quiet alright. Such an interesting innocence… I feel like Cross' team will need that kind of firepower. Go ahead and send him with Allen and Lavi."

"Will do, Supervisor." I replied.

"Also- that eye of Allen's may have interested the Earl- give him a fair warning."

"You mean with its newest development?" I asked solemnly. I couldn't eat for a while after seeing the soul attached to the akuma. I don't understand how Allen could deal with it all the time.

"Yes."

"I will sir."

"As for your next location you will be getting off the train in three stops. It will be a small mining town- no more than a speck on the map. "

"Alright, who am I meeting with?"

"Not telling~"

"W-what?"

"I'll talk to you later Jane!"

"Wait, Komui! Who am I meeting?"

"Ta Ta!" The phone line went dead.

"That idiot." I grumbled, clutching the phone as hard as I could. "How am I supposed to do my job if I don't even know who I'm working with?"

"Jane! Hurry, the train is leaving!" I heard Allen call above the crowd.

"C-coming!" I stuttered, quickly packing up my field kit to haul onto the train. Both Allen and Lavi were sitting across from a depressed looking Krory. Over the past few days I had determined it was his natural state of being, and there wasn't much to do about his pessimistic attitude.

"Aw, buck up, Krory." I said, placing an encouraging hand on his shoulder.

"B-but, they wouldn't believe me." He sniffled.

"Now tat wasn't any fault o' yours." I replied, motherly instincts kicking in I pulled out a handkerchief and began wiping away his tears and snot. "Look at ta mess you've made. Come on, Mr. Exorcist. I know ye to be stronger dan tis."

"It's fine Krory, they got mad at us too for not exorcising you." Allen grumbled. Still peeved from the lack of appreciation from the locals.

"Why don't you walk around the train for some fun? You said you've never been on one before." Lavi pointed out. Thank goodness for our resident optimist.

"Y-yeah, that's true, maybe I'll walk around a bit…" He muttered, raising his body from the crouched position he was in. I heard his knees crack as he stood at his full height and winced.

"See ya soon." I waved and gave him a smile.

"He's so different in battle." All three of us commented at the same time. We stared at each other before beginning to laugh.

"Wanna hear something really funny about Lacey-chan?" Lavi not-so-discreetly whispered to Allen.

"Why do you call her that?" Allen asked- this conversation wouldn't be getting far if I had anything to say about it.

"That's where our funny story begins, my dear Moyashi. It all started at the train station in Italy…."

"Lavi, for the sake of your genetalia, I suggest you shut up." I muttered darkly. Needless to say- that story didn't get very far.

* * *

"Crow-chaaaaan!" Lavi called throughout the train. How we managed to lose the newest addition to the team is beyond me.

"Could it be that he got lost?" Allen chuckled humorlessly.

"It's a train, how can you get lost? It's a straight line." I grumbled brining up the rear. Krory had been gone for three hours, and I had to leave at the next stop. We had gone through the first class coach, the business and eatery coaches; all that was left were the last three carts. We'd figure he had to have enough common sense not to end up in the coal cart- though depending on our findings in the last three carts, that would be our next destination. Lavi opened the door to the next car only to halt our procession.

"What gives, Lavi?" I asked as I peered around his shoulder. What I saw was certainly not what I was expecting for Krory. There he was, sitting in nothing but his boxers on the floor, clearly upset.

"Sorry, right now young kids aren't allowed in here." Said a guy in glasses dealing the cards. He looked to be in his late twenties, possibly early thirties and had black curly hair. He sat across from Krory, two other men sat beside him, and a boy behind. "Now sir, lets have another match, what will you wager?" He directed his question to Krory.

"N-no, but…." Krory began mumbling.

"Krory, what are you doing?" I asked making my way past Allen and Lavi.

"Th-these people invited me to play something called poker…." He mumbled. I handing him a handkerchief, and he attempted to clean off his face. "And before I knew it… it turned out like this."

"Ah, he got suckered." Allen muttered.

"What this? A girl perhaps? You wouldn't mind playing too would you?" Suddenly the man with the glasses was in my face, holding my hand.

"How stupid do I honestly look?" I deadpanned. He let loose an awkward chuckle.

"Now, now. I only meant for a bit of fun." His glasses flashed, I caught something akin to malice in his eye and a beauty mark on his face. I shuddered and was soon pulled back by Allen. Lavi cast me a glance of what was probably concern, but I waved him off. I had dealt with worse back in Ireland.

"How about I play instead- all the trimmings on this coat are made from real silver. I bet this for all of Krory's clothes, will you have a match with me?" Allen asked, kindly stepping in front of me.

"Woah there Allen-" I started- that jacket was pretty valuable.

"Do you realize what you're saying?" Lavi continued. Allen ignored the both of us and just smiled pleasantly at his opponent.

"Haha, all right then…" The man with the glasses said, taking a drag from his cigarette before dealing the cards.

* * *

"Call." Allen smiled pleasantly revealing his royal straight flush. He sat triumphantly with a pile of belongings behind him and three almost naked men before him. "Royal straight flush, looks like I won again."

"Arghhhhh! Damnit!" The three men exclaimed throwing there cards into the air.

"Shield your eyes!" Lavi exclaimed, lunging to presumably cover my eyes. "If they lose anything else then they wont be appropriate for young eyes."

"I'm older than you, ya twerp!" I growled trying to pull his hands away from my face.

"That wont be necessary- I really have no use for your undergarments." Allen told the men with a shit-eating grin. The men quickly huddled over for a meeting; though I caught bits of what they were saying- apparently Allen was supposed to be getting crap cards. "This is easy." I heard Allen mutter to himself.

"You're wonderful Allen!" Krory exclaimed, happy to be fully clothed again.

"Yeah, a little too good." I grumbled- I was never this good at poker; I needed to take notes from this kid.

"Unbelievably so…" Lavi put in.

"That's because I'm cheating." Allen said, turning back to wink at us.

"W-what?!" I exclaimed, crawling closer to Allen from my place next to Krory with Lavi in tow.

"Well, they challenged Krory first, clearly picking on him since he didn't know what he was doing- so they really brought it on themselves. Plus I just don't feel like losing." He explained with his newly dealt hand of cards over his mouth.

"How did you get this good?" Lavi asked, I worried about the answer.

"Its not my fault Master made me fend for myself- forcing me to pay back his debt wherever he went. I had to become good." The same shit-eating grin began to crawl onto his face. "Plus it's three against one, so its even. But I'll never lose."

"Waah- so even Allen has a black side." Lavi said offhandedly.

"Call." Allen said again as he won another hand. I laughed and made my way back to our train car to collect my things. My stop was approaching quickly.

* * *

"Stop call for Kirilenko Mines." The train announcer said. I hopped off the train to see Allen handing the belongings back to the gambling men- it appeared as if this was their stop as well.

"Its hard to be naked this time of year." He told them cheerily. I smiled, sometimes Allen was too nice to people.

"Kid, we haven't sunk so low as to be pitied by you." Said the man in the glasses as him and his friends took their belongings.

"Then why are you taking it?" I asked coming up behind them, starling the group on the ground.

"Well, Miss, we can't be in nothing but our underwear in front of such fine company." He gestured to me. "Plus we need it- we start outside work in the mines today."

"Where are you from?" Allen asked.

"From everywhere- we're just a group of bad mannered orphans who've become wanderers." My respect grew for them a bit as I watched the boy with the mask- it was no easy task taking care of a child, even if they were working. The child walked up to Allen and reached to meet him since he was sticking his head out the train window.

"Thanks." He said to Allen, though it was slightly muffled by the mask. He held something in his hand and offered it to Allen.

"Wait, Eaze, that's your treasure." Said the man with the glasses, fishing in his pocket. "I'll give him something instead."

"I don't need anything- don't worry about it." Allen said politely, though obviously curious about what gift he was going to get. The train began to move again as the man tossed a pack of cards to Allen, "Please let us off with that!" He called to Allen.

"Sure!" Allen called back. "See you later, Jane!" He called to me.

"Bye Allen!" I called back waving

"Goodbye Lacey-chaaaaaan!" Lavi called to me, sticking his head out the window- I held up my middle finger for him to see. The gamblers were still grumbling about Allen's cheating ability- and I decided to get some lunch before calling Komui to see what exactly I was supposed to do now in a mining town. I assumed I would either meet up with a group of exorcists searching for the generals, or I would begin an innocence investigation. I hoped for the second, it had been a while since I lead my own investigation- and I could always call for back up if akuma became involved.

I made my way down the main street of the small mining down, pleased that it was such a nice day despite the cold that had loomed over the morning.

I soon found a café and took advantage of the warm early autumn day to sit outside. The server was a middle aged woman with small wrinkles around her mouth from laughing. Soon I had a cup of Earl Grey tea as well as a bowl of hearty bean stew and a turkey sandwich sitting in front of me. I took a breath a relaxed.

Was this what it would feel like to not be in the Order? To relax and to be able to enjoy the day with a cup of tea. I sighed at the lovely thought- things weren't that simple. I had a debt to repay. I didn't deserve carefree happiness.

My mind was pulled from darker thoughts when a familiar voice caught my ear. It was Eaze. I turned to see them walking down the street toward the café, they seemed to notice me so I waved to them.

"Off to the mines?" I asked as they approached.

"Yeah, they said they had some work available." Responded the man in he hat.

"I see, where did your friend with the glasses go?" I asked, noticing that Eaze was eyeing my lunch.

"Tyki? He gets called off to jobs every so often- never really know where he goes." Explained the one with shoulder length hair.

"Eaze, would you like my lunch? I'm afraid I don't find myself all that hungry after all." The boy looked at me earnestly and quickly nodded taking the seat across from me.

"That's awfully nice of ya, miss." Said the one in the hat. "We haven't had much money for a decent meal lately."

"Then by all means, let me order you some as well." I said standing to get the attention of the server.

"No, we couldn't possibly. Eaze is a kid and needs it, but we'll get by." Said the one with the shoulder length hair. "We were guaranteed a meal at the mines tonight."

"Well, if your man pride says so." I responded, earning myself a chuckle form the two. Eaze had pulled down his mask to begin eating the soup- I caught a glint of silver on his neck.

"What's that?" I asked him, gesturing to the familiar looking pendent.

"It's silver that Tyki got for me." The boy said, taking a break from his meal to take off the necklace to show me "You can look at it- isn't it pretty?" He asked. My hands trembled as I held to silver, and dread consumed me when I read the name on the back. Kevin Yeegar. The general attacked by the Noah.

"Where did he get this?" I asked, hoping that he had just found the button after the Noah encounter.

"He got it on one of his secret jobs. He said he'll bring me back more silver from his next job." The boy concluded. He asked for some napkins to wrap up the sandwich for later, but I didn't hear him.

If Tyki was a Noah….

He could have killed us all on the train. None of us suspected him.

They had human forms. How could I forget that?

"Where did he go?" I asked, cutting through the conversation between the two men.

"We never know- I think he said this one was close. He walked off down the road that leads to the next town." Said the man wearing the hat.

"I'm sorry to leave so abruptly." I said briskly, reaching for a handful of coins to put on the table.

"Woah- that's way more than for lunch!" The men exclaimed before I collected my things.

"For your troubles." I muttered, walking back towards the train station. I think I had just found my investigation mission.

* * *

"Field call request to headquarters." I said- quickly dialing my transceiver box to Komui's office.

"Request confirmed." Came the automated voice, I heard the dial tone plug me through."

"Hello."

"Hello, supervisor, I have some very important-"

"The Supervisor is not in right now, please leave a message after the beep."

Well screw this shit. I quickly called Wenhamm's office number.

"Urg. Wenhamm speaking." He groaned over the line.

"Wenhamm! Its Jane, I need you to put Komui on the line right now, its urgent." I all but yelled into the phone.

"Woah there, calm down Jane. What is this about?" I heard a chorus of 'Jane!" in the background, no doubt from the science department.

"Just give me ta Komui already! It's about da Noah." I whispered the last part.

"R-right away." He said. "Move ya little buggers- this is serious." I hear him say to the rest of the science department. "Well that would explain things.."

"Explain what?" I asked, I could feel my face flush with the urgency of the situation.

"His phone's outside his office door." Explained Wenhamm. "Komui! Get your ass up and come talk to Jane she said its urgent and about the Noah!" I heard him yell over the line, pounding on the door.

"Noah?" I heard Komui groggily asked- I could almost see his disheveled appearance form the nap I had awoken him from. "Jane?" He asked, his voice was closer meaning that Wenhamm handed him the phone.

"Noah has been located, permission to pursue?" I asked quickly.

"Calm down Jane, tell me everything."

* * *

After a twenty minute explanation…..

"You are not going in alone Jane." Komui firmly stated.

"Why not? I can do this Komui! I can handle it."

"No Jane, I want an exorcist with you- if not a group of them."

"He took down a General- he will take down whatever group of exorcists you send with me. And then he will destroy their innocence."

"All the more reason for you not to go- I will deploy a group of exorcists with a General once they become available."

"I don't have an innocence, sending me on this mission poses no threat to the Order."

"Jane, my answer is no, and that is final. I will not needlessly sacrifice you-"

"Its not a sacrifice, he wont even know I'm following him."

"No! you will not follow him Jane. I want you to meet up with the Tiedoll group and help them locate their General." I did not respond to him. "Is that clear Jane?"

"Yes sir." I grit out.

"I expect word from you in the next couple days that you have met up with them. "

"Yes sir."

You will heed my orders Jane."

"Yes sir." I said before hanging up. This was my chance. A chance to help the order- to give them information to take down a Noah.

Komui would forgive me.

* * *

*Three days later with the Tiedoll group*

"General." Kanda called out, spying his old teacher up the road.

"Oh, Long time no see!" He called back waving. Had they really spent a week traipsing across Europe to find this geezer? The sad answer is yes. The sadder part was that he must now inform him of Deesha's death.

* * *

"I-I see." Tiedoll hiccupped. "So Deesha is dead…that's so sad." He muttered, unashamed of the stream of tears flowing down his face. "That kid always used to play pranks on me…using his innocence t crack my glasses…such a good kid." Tiedoll always had the nasty habit of growing overly fond of his apprentices. That, and perhaps his artistic eye were the only downfalls of the fatherly general.

"His body was shipped to headquarters yesterday." Marie informed the weeping man.

"His innocence was taken as well." Kanda stated.

"If I recall correctly, his hometown was Bodrum, right?" Tiedoll asked Marie, looking up from his grieving. The tall man nodded as the general took out his sketchbook. "It's on the beautiful Aegean Sea." He muttered to him, beginning to draw the image he had created in his mind.

"General, the enemy is targeting you and the innocence you possess." Kanda said, not understanding the sudden need for his old teacher to suddenly be drawing. Tiedoll ignored him as he continued with his picture.

"This is just an illustration of the memories I saw, so it'll probably be a little different…" Tiedoll muttered holding up an image of a beautiful coastal town. "Deesha, I'm sorry its just a drawing, but I'm sending your hometown to you." He said, taking out a lighter. "May you rest in peace…" The drawing caught fire and the ash was carried away in the wind.

Tiedoll turned back to his remaining two students. "I cannot return to the Order, we are in the middle of a war right now, and I need to find new students. If God hasn't abandoned us, then I am sure he will send new disciples our way."

Kanda thought of Arduino. Perhaps God had not forsaken them.

"Then we will follow you, General Theodore Tiedoll." The students replied, the General smiled at them.

The peaceful scene was interrupted with a call to Kanda's golem.

"Yes?" Kanda huffed, adjusting the device to better pick up a signal.

"K-kanda?" asked a weak voice on the other side.

"Who is this?" He asked, his anger escalating, he did not wish to deal with responsibilities of the Order right now.

"Is Jane with you?" The voice asked.

"That red-haired finder? No, I have not seen her since my mission with the Bookman." Why were they asking about her- she was assigned to Cross' group. He mentally sighed, what trouble had she caused now?

"She was ordered to meet up with you three days ago…" Kanda cast Marie a look he shrugged in response.

"We were not contacted about this. Who is this anyway?"

"T-this is Jonny from the science department…." Kanda was almost ready to hang up when the weak voice began again. "142 Finders were killed in the past week, and you say she's not with you?" Kanda stiffened. This is why you didn't befriend the weak, he should have known she would get herself killed. He couldn't help but think of her resilience to death- how she had tossed him the boy. How he couldn't reach her in time. How she talked funny whenever she got angry.

He needed to stop. She was dead. And emotions would only hinder him.

"Why are you calling to tell me this?" He sounded dark even to himself

"She wasn't sent home- and if she's not with you…I-I just have a feeling that she's still out there."

"And what would she be doing…if she is not with us?"

"Well, her box is turned off, but I think she did that herself. She and the supervisor were arguing about a Noah she had found. I think she wanted to go after it." A Noah had killed Deesha- how did she expect to gain anything form tracking it.

"Are you saying that she is off somewhere attempting to track a damn Noah?" Kanda gritted through his teeth. Honestly, the stupidity of this girl infuriated him.

"I-i think so." Stuttered the voice. Kanda's eyes became lost in the shadow of his bangs

"That fucking idiot." He growled. "If she's not already dead, she's gonna be." He snapped before hanging up. He looked up to see his two companions eyeing him warily.

"There's an idiot out there that thinks she can track a Noah." He muttered to them.

"Ah, so we are in search of a friend of yours, Yu-kun?" Tiedoll asked innocently.

"She's not my friend." Kanda growled. "And stop calling my that! My name is Kanda."

"We are seeking the fourth member of our party then?" Marie offered.

"Yes." Kanda huffed, turning back down the road.

"And a girl no less~" Tiedoll gushed behind him. Kanda grit his teeth as he felt vein pop on his forehead. He already had a headache and the brat hadn't even joined their company yet.

* * *

Woot! Another chapter! Please review, let me know how you like the next installment- hoped you enjoyed reading it

Goals:

1)Start the original plot I had in my head when I first started writing the story- Until now its only been so-so for the plot. BUT Hopefull you all will like this next arc comming up- lots of Akuma, Noah, and of course Kanda

2)Introduce Tiedoll- I absolutly love his character, so keep an eye on it to make sure I do a good job

3)Have Kanda thinks about Jane, even if its not in the most positive light.


	14. Short Story (KandaxJane)

A quick short for Kanda and Jane that I will hopefully insert into the story somewhere

This is the result of reaching 40 reviews and several glasses of wine- please enjoy:

* * *

"Kanda! Wait up!" Jane called, trying to keep up with the tall Asian man in the thick snow.

"Keep up!" He called back. There didn't seem to be an end to the blizzard's rage. They were nearing Siberian Borders and had been separated from Tiedoll and Marie who had gone ahead to take care of a few akuma. Kanda had not been pleased with his new found babysitting job, but then again, neither did Jane- and she made an effort to keep him well informed of her opinions.

He didn't mind so much- her talking bothered him, but it was the fact that she didn't falter under his anger, the fact that she didn't relent- that's why he put up with it. Because in a way it reminded him of Alma.

Kanda remembered the first time Alma made him laugh. They were both covered in injuries from the day of experimentation and still trying to kill each other. He smirked at the thought. It wasn't a perfect friendship, but it was his only guideline as to what friends acted like. Jane seemed to fit into that mold of a friend that Alma had created.

Friends? Did he really have any?

Lenalee was nice, and he respected her. Lavi was flat out annoying, but he wasn't terrified of Kanda. Marie was the closest thing he had to a brother, but even then he only considered them comrades- comrades on good terms. Allen he didn't think about too much, he was disgusted with himself that the moyashi had even come up when trying to list the people he would consider friends. He almost held an emotion similar to admiration for the Generals, but not close enough to change his attitude towards them. Komui was just an idiot.

They were all idiots…with the slight exception of Lenalee and Marie. But he would never tell them that.

Ragged breathing behind him brought his thoughts back to the Finder.

Ah yes, the finder. That infuriating little bitch who had the nerve to punch him in the cafeteria. The one in the same who had that ridiculous way of talking, and a temper to match her hair. He turned to see her lagging again- the snow packed up to her waist as she tried to follow the path he was making. At least her hair acted like a beacon- no way he could lose that in a white out. He smirked to himself- Jane the target- it seemed to fit.

He heard a thud behind him and quickly turned only to groan. He had lost her.

"Finder?" He called into the wind. He heard a muffled response and backtracked to pull the girl out of the snow. "What are you doing?" He asked, half amused at her current state. Snow clung to her hair and jacket, her nose and cheeks were pink from the cold and her nose was running terribly.

"S-s-sorry." She said as her teeth chattered. "I-I can't f-f-feel m-my l-egs." She managed to get out.

"We will rest once we get to the caves." He said- that was the rendezvous point, that is where they would stop. She looked like she was nodding, but he could tell that the old was setting into her. She wouldn't get much farther. "Come." He said before turning. He knew she would do her best not to hinder him.

They continued to make there way through the forest and eventually cam upon a hill that sidetracked from the road. The snow was up to his stomach. He turned back to see the redhead fight against the snow, but every time she tried to get up the hill, the snow would push her back. After finding amusement in her first couple attempts, he quickly got annoyed with her smaller stature and made his way back down to her.

"Come on." He said crouching in front of her.

"W-w-what?" She chattered.

"Get on my back." He ordered, when she didn't respond he snapped. "Don't take all day, damnit." She quickly scampered onto his back, hands clinging his shoulders as his own hands grabbed under her knees to hold her in place. She muttered her thanks and that's when he knew something wasn't right- she wasn't arguing or throwing a fit because of her Irish pride or whatever. He needed to get to the caves.

Within the hour he had made it up the summit and into the cave- it was clear someone frequented them due to the decent sized stack of dry wood. No one would dare come up here in this weather though- Tiedoll and Marie might not even make it back that night.

Jane had taken to huddling in the corner, her teeth chattering away.

"Matches." He said as he began piling the wood. She was pretty much useless in her frozen state. A moment later a box of matches was thrown in his general direction. He quickly started the fire to warm the cave. But even then the chattering of the finder's teeth would not stop.

"Stop that." He stated firmly, meeting her gaze above the fire.

"S-s-s-stop wh-what?"

"That damn chattering." He growled back. He could see her jaw tense, as if she were trying to control it, but it didn't seem to help.

"I-I'm j-j-just c-cold." After a few moments later he growled at her. She rolled her eyes at him, which twisted his face into a snarl. She slowly got up and came over to him. He raised an eyebrow at her. What did she want now?

He was embarrassed to say he blushed slightly when the girl sat next to him and snuggled against his arm.

"What is wrong with you?" He asked, his face twitching a bit.

"I-I'm cold. You're w-warm." She concluded, her eyes were hazy as she looked into the fire. Kanda sighed and decided to stare at a corner of the ceiling until he figured out what to do.

She was using him, and even for heat, that didn't bode well with him. He was tired of being used. But when he looked down he observed that the girl was asleep, he decided more harm than good would come from laying her on the cold ground.

The fire light caught her hair and he noticed the stark difference between his own and hers. He sighed again and scratched his cheek with his free hand. His thoughts traveled back to her fire red hair as a target. He remembered how he thought the akuma hat shot her, when she had thrown Arduino at him. He thought of how much she had risked saving a stranger's baby. How she had cried for the people she blamed herself for killing.

She was brave, he finally admitted, if not a little stupid to put the lives of others before her own, especially in times like these. She was compassionate and loved freely.

Yes, Alma would have liked her a lot.

And with that thought he smiled, just a little. What if Alma was here and they were all together?

….

….

….

A look of horror flashed across Kanda's face as he looked down at the Finder who was currently using his arm as a pillow.

Had he honestly just considered a finder to be a friend?

Her nose twitched in her sleep.

No, not a finder, he begruningly admitted, but Jane. Jane was his friend.

Not the finder, but the girl sitting beside him by the fire.

Before he felt sleep claim him, he felt soft curls against his cheek when his head fell from exhaustion.

And that is where Tiedoll and Marie found them the next morning, legs splayed out before them as they leaned against the wall. Her head on his shoulder. His head resting on hers.

Tiedoll smiled and took out his sketch book.

* * *

Let me know if anyone is OCC, Jane included. I want to keep people in character! Regarding Kanda and romance, my thought is that he has never experienced something like that before- so of course he is nervous and perhaps a bit childish when it comes to something like Jane sleeping by him- plus I always took Jane as being to one to 'make the first move' sort of thing, which she will in the story once it turns more for romance.

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! I want to practice writing more with Kanda and his thoughts- and I need you opnions to see how I fare


	15. Chapter 15

Wow- okay. First official post during the middle of the semester. I hav an exam tomorrow, but i figured i needed to stop being a douche bag to all of my amazing followers and actually update. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! I did some stuff with third person because i wanted both Kanda's and Jane's reaction. (Yes, Kanda is finally back- yay!) Love you all, please enjoy- (P.S. I will proof read this for typos in the morning)

* * *

I had managed to stay on his trail for three days without losing him- damn inhuman thing didn't sleep so I was constantly on the run tracking him. But with a trail of deaths left in his wake, it wasn't hard to do. That and the rather obvious carriage.

* * *

I had followed Tyki back to the train station- he purchased another ticket. The ticket master did not seem all that concerned when I inquired as to where he was going and asked for the same ticket. Once I had boarded the train I changed into a casual outfit to reduce attention brought to myself. I kept a spare pair of breeches and loose tunic for times when I needed to wash my uniform, and in this case, for undercover missions. I also managed to nab a hat from a nearby sleeping man, before boarding the train- my success of this mission would surly cover for the minor theft.

I sat at the back of the car, my eyes never left the back of his head. He casually stared out the window, only moving when he sneezed as a women with too much perfume walked by. The whole ordeal could have been considered dull if I wasn't sitting in the same train car as a mass murderer.

If I could track his movement, give forewarning to the Order, figure out what he was after, then I could be of use to the order. No more of the small fry jobs assigned to finders, I would be of real use. I could atone. I thought of a baby's cry.

Arduino. I wasn't just doing this for atonement. I was doing it for him, for the other exorcists. I was going to protect them this time. I wouldn't need saving this time- I would save them. All of them. Even the ones I didn't like. At that point my mind shifted focus to the frivolous samurai wannabe. The look on his face when I proved my worth. I wouldn't have to deal with his snide comments, or condescending looks- he would have to respect me.

I smirked, yes, I would certainly show him the worth of a finder.

* * *

Not even two hours later Tyki got off. Not at a stop. No, that would be too easy. He jumped out the fucking window. I was completely caught off guard and quickly made my way to the back of the car so I could hopefully catch up with him. Ignoring the concerns voiced by the passengers of the car, I pushed past the gathering mob to make for the junction of the two cars. I didn't give the notion of throwing myself from a moving train a second thought- perhaps not one of my brightest ideas as I forgot to roll out of the impact. I could feel the deep-set ache fester in my side as it absorbed all the impact. I took a moment to regain my breath and observed my surroundings. There was a fare amount of brush, so I considered myself hidden well enough until I could regulate my breathing.

I was surrounded by thigh high grass and shrubs covering rolling hills. I sat up as saw absolutely nothing for miles. Hills and sky. There was a great expanse of gray sky, the air smelled like it was going to rain.

I saw a bobbing top hat just over the ridge to my left, and feeling quite like a wild cat of some sort, I crawled towards it. My heart hammered in my chest, and I feared he would notice it. I felt sweat slide down the nape of my neck and then between my shoulders. I peered over the edge- and there he was. The grey skinned bastard himself.

He stood tall, shoulders no longer hunched. He wore a black tuxedo and top hat that made his slim figure seem lithe and masculine. He was smoking again, yet is gloves were impeccably clean. He ran his hand through his hair, pulling it away from his forehead to reveal the cross figures scarred across his forehead. His golden eyes scowered the hills as if looking for something.

All the sudden, his eyes darted to the ledge I was perched on. I felt my heart drop to my stomach. I closed my eyes and stopped breathing, willing the shrubs to cover me from his prying eyes. I felt his stare penetrate through me. If he killed me no one would find my body. I I stayed this way for several long minutes until I heard the sound of rickety wood approaching.

My eyes slowly opened, his attention on an approaching carriage. There was nothing drawing it, the old wooden box moved as if by its own will. I gawked at it, missing that Tyki was approaching it. The carriage stopped infront of him, and the door opened to reveal a girl inside. She was grey too.

My fists clenched the dirt I was laying on- two Noah's meant they were planning something. It meant that it wasn't sporadic killing, it was thought out. The Order was locating its Generals to send them back to headquarters, not to protect the headquaters- it was to protect them from these scheming Noahs. I needed to figure out who they were heading for- They had killed Yeegar, who was next?

The carriage took off again, rumbling over the uneven terrain. I took off in pursuit. For three days I trailed the carriage holding the two Noah.

I didn't realize I had left my transceiver box on the train until a day later when I realized it wasn't weighing me down as I chased after the carriage.

After two days of running, I felt my legs go weak, it was as if I had stones for feet. My lungs felt as if there were coals in them. My heart felt as if it was pushing acid through my veins. I had thrown up too many times to count. My skin had gone from wet with sweat to cold and clammy from dehydration. I could only focus on the carriage in the distance, a black speck that led me into the storm.

A literal storm as well as one of death. By the third day a consistant rain began pelting my skin. It felt like needles at first, but slowly it turned into a constant alarm that kept me awake. I had staggered and fell into a puddle, I lapped up the water like a dog. After and ten minutes of running later, I threw that up too.

This was for the Order.

This was for Arduino.

This was for Allen, Lenalee, Lavi, Komui, Jonny, and the whole science department.

This was for the finder's who were thought of as disposable.

This was to shove in Kanda's face.

I kept running.

During the third day I passed two villages. I remember blood everywhere. No one would talk to me. I remember wanting to punch the Noah right in the beauty mark. He played with lives as if he was above them. As if he never knew the fear of death.

There was a girl my age. She had blond hair with freckles. She could have had a father and mother and an annoying little brother. She probably hated her chores and just wanted to daydream of a better life. She might have had a boy who liked her. A boy that she wore a ribbon in her hair for. She may have started a family with him. Her intestines were pulled out through her mouth.

My rage spurred me on. I didn't care if I didn't have an innocence. I was going to slaughter the Noah like they did to that girl. For what they could do. For what I knew they would do.

I felt myself slip from conscious thought, my body was slowing. Rage was what kept me from allowing myself to slip into complete darkness. Rage burned like liquid fire, replacing the blood of my veins. Rage kept me going, but I couldn't think. It was as if my body was separate from my mind.

Everything was blurring together, I couldn't determine how long I had run for. It was still raining when we reached a city. I couldn't tell night from day.

* * *

I was following his top hat now, he had exited the carriage at the city's outskirts. He strode down the cobblestone, cane in hand, as if he owned the city. I skirted corners and ducked in and out of taverns to follow him. The noise of the city had somewhat awoken my conscious mind- I was at least able to put basic thoughts together. I knew I needed to find a phone to call the order and report. My money was in my transceiver box though, and I was in no shape to effectively pick pocket anyone.

So I followed the top hat. I followed it down streets and alleys, over a bride and through a tunnel. At that's here I lost it. All the sudden, he wasn't in the tunnel anymore. The brick walls surrounding me came into focus when I realized I was in danger. I became aware of the sound of my breathing and heartbeat. I felt a breeze tickle and pry off the hair plastered to my neck.

I didn't move, I prayed that the shadows provided enough cover. I didn't know what to do, I didn't want to move only o be caught- I shuddered at the thought of what happened to those who were caught by the Noah. I thought of the girl with the intestines pulled through her mouth.

I heard the sound of something scraping, my attention shifted to the end of the tunnel, I turned my head to see a gangly figure carrying a scythe. It was followed by a hound like creature with six eyes. Level two akuma, I was in a tunnel now with level two akuma.

"Come out girlie, we know you're here." Said the one with the scythe. The hound began sniffing the ground. They were looking for me. I wasn't going to get out of this one. I did what I had done for the past few days- I ran.

Adrenaline kicked in and I no longer felt the ache of my legs or the fire in my lungs. "Get her!" cried the akuma, who I assumed was ordering the hound after me. I through down trashcans and wooden boards as I ran down the alley that lead out of the tunnel. I hoped that by some God-forsaken reason, it would put some distance between myself and the death-incarnate that was hot on my heels. I heard the creature growling and snapping its jaws at me, lunging and just barely missing.

The alley led to an old warehouse district, the buildings of which glowed irradencently in the moon light. The akuma let out a guteral cry as one of its massive paws swept me to the side and into the wall. I cried out when I made contact with the wall, I felt my ribs strain under the pressure of my body weight. Despite this, I quickly dodged another powerful strike and began running again.

I turned a corner and dodged into an alleyway immediately to my left. I crouched behind a trashcan and held my breath. I heard the akuma run by and then backtrack. He sniffed the entrance to the alleyway and howled- I started running again.

I felt hopeless- I thought I would be able to help the order, to make amends. I thought that if I put my mind to it I could somehow manage to track the Noah without dying. Why was I so stupid? Why couldn't I think things through? My legs felt like jell-o, my skin was burning and my lungs felt raw from over use. What use was I going to be to anyone when I was dead?

These negative thoughts swirled in my head as I felt myself slowly start to fade. I physically couldn't run anymore. My breaths came ragged and short. I closed my eyes, praying for relief form the pain swelling in y chest.

I bumped into something and looked up to see the gangly akuma giving me an crooked grin. "Done now, are ya?" His voice sounded like he had a mouth full of broken glass. I stumbled away and ended up landing on my back, I could barely pick myself up. When I was sitting the gangly akuma was still smiling, the hound was circling me, I felt nauseous.

"You're going to die now, aright little girl?" the gangly one spoke again. "My master has given me very specific instructions for dealing with you. He wanted to be here in person, but had other business to attend to. He wanted me to let you know that you are very amusing, and your stupidity is astounding. He will make sure your friends receive a gift." He delivered his speech with flawless malice, slowly approaching me. I felt my stomach drop when he mentioned my friends. They knew I was a finder, all finder's died sometime. I could see no way out, no one knew my location, my body was past the point of exhaustion, I don't even think I could muster the energy to scream. Not that I would give the enemy that satisfaction. I would be strong in my last moments and look them in the eye. My lips would not quiver, I would bite them if they tried. I would die honorably… well, honorably enough for an Irish woman.

"Tell your master he can suck my dick." I replied back, proud that my voice didn't shake. The akuma's smile widened as it walked toward me.

"I will let him know. I will also make sure I hear you scream before you die." It hissed the last part as it stood above me. It roughly grabbed a piece of my hair, I had to bite my tongue not to make a noise. Its scythe came down, and I felt the pull on my scalp fade. I looked up to see a long red curl in its hand. "Now for the fun part." it said as he sauntered away.

The hound came towards me, hunched, getting ready to pounce. I sat there and stared at its dripping jowls, I hoped its teeth would quickly find a major artery so I would bleed out quickly. It lunged, I cringed.

* * *

I didn't know what to expect. Excruciating pain? The cold grip of death? The feeling of uncomfortableness at least? Nope, nothing, can't say I'm complaining. Its just not what I was expecting.

"What are you doing, idiot?" Why was Kanda in heaven? He strikes me more as a hell dweller- heaven just seems too happy for him.

"K-kanda?" I stuttered, opening my eyes. He was straddling my hips with his sword impaled into the back of the throat of the hound akuma.I was getting a feeling of dejavu.

"Who are you?" cried the gangly akuma, as the hound body disintegrated.

"No one." Kanda replied before lunging for the akuma. Taking advantage of the still astonished akuma, he destroyed the gangly figure in moments. As the akuma disintegrated, the piece of hair he had held fell to the ground. Kanda sheathed Mugen and picked up the fiery lock. "You're really stupid." He said while staring at the piece of hair.

It was the first time since encountering the two level two akuma that I knew I wasn't going to die any time soon. I was going to live. I might see my friends again. I could see Allen and Lavi and Lenalee. I could see Komui and the science department. I might even have the chance so see my family again.

"Yeah." I whimpered. "I know." He turned to me and quirked an eyebrow.

"You're admitting that I'm right?" He asked, dropping the hair and walking towards me. I nodded furiously, I had been an idiot. I felt my eyes start to water. "Its about time." I could tell he was smirking, but I fixed my eyes on the ground. I saw his boots stop in front of me. "Get off your ass, we have to go…Oh shit, are you crying?" I felt the tears drip down my face, so I nodded. "Oh, um, okay. You need to stop." He somewhat ordered. "Come on, stop now." He nudged me with his Mugen.

"You're really bad at comforting people." I stated, taking a ragged breath.

"I never said I was good at it. Now get up, we have to go meet the others." He ordered, gaining the authority back in his voice.

"You're supposed to hug them, and stroke their head, an say 'everything will be alright'." I sniffed, trying to stop the tears.

"Well that's stupid." He muttered, looking off to the side.

"Yeah, it is, but it helps." I hiccupped and wiped my face. Lord, I was so tired.

"You need to get over this mushy phase your in right now, we need to go." He ordered again.

"I'm really tired, Kanda." I muttered, my eyes feeling heavy.

"You better stand up right now, woman. I am not dragging your ass anywhere." He growled.

"Then why come to get me?" He was quiet. I don't know why he saved me if I am always such a burden.

"One of the stupid science department people called. Apparently lots of finders came in dead- you weren't with them, and you weren't with us. He said you had gone after a Noah."

"I did."

"Why would you do that?! What good are you against a Noah?" He was angry now, but I was so very tired. It had been days since I had last slept, and here I was, finally safe.

"I just wanted to help…" I trailed off as my head bobbed. I was so, so very tired.

"A lot of good that did you- nearly got yourself killed! Did you want me to ship your corpse back to the Order? Everyone would have cried and shit. Fuck, woman, how stupid are you…." Kanda trailed off when he realized his audience was no longer conscious. "Oi…" His eyebrow twitched. "Wake up." He kicked her in the side- she didn't move. "Stupid, fucking…" He grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose and walked away from the girl. "God damnit!" He cried, turning back to the girl who had fallen asleep while sitting up. He picked her up, and walked back to the inn.

* * *

Third Person POV

"Why don't we tuck the girl into bed?" Tiedoll asked after giving her a quick inspection from Kanda's arms.

"Sounds good to me." Kanda said, attempting to shove the girl into his master's arms.

"Now, now, Kanda. If she wakes up she should see a familiar face- why don't you take her upstairs. The poor thing is exhausted." Chided his master.

"She wouldn't be exhausted if she could follow her fucking orders." Kanda grumbled as he turned to the stair case. He carried her up the stairs and dumped her in bed uncerimoneously. He 'che'ed as he observed her dishevled form. Her hair was matted and tangled beyond what he considered repair. She was covered in dirt and her boots were almost worn through. She had felt feverish when he had carried her, but nothing they could do about that until she woke up. Overall he concluded that she was just travel worn, no need for any medical attention.

He convinced himself that he wasn't worried, but since he had just managed to save her yet again, he couldn't let her die so soon without the original effort being considered a waste. He wondered what had driven her to think she could ever stand up to a Noah, why she was so determined to 'help', as she put it. His mind quickly recalled his first mission with her, he had been harsh, but she was the type to try and make bonds, so he considered it acceptable behavior. Perhaps she was trying to prove her worth… Or maybe she was a fucking idiot. Yes, he concluded, she was beyond stupid.

He went back downstairs to his master and Marie to let the girl rest, she would need it to survive the beating he was going to give her tomorrow.

* * *

Kanda, Marie, and Tiedoll were in the lobby of the inn having breakfast when they heard her. It was a blood-curdling scream and Kanda just about flipped the table over to get up the stairs. When he reached the end of the hallway he almost ripped the door off the hinges. He had done akuma patrol not two hours ago, he was going to kick himself if one had managed to somehow sneak in.

The girl was on her bed, sitting up with a shaky hand covering her mouth. She was pale and sweaty, her eyes fixed on the adjacent wall. He turned his attention to the wall to see what had caused her to scream.

Hanging from the ceiling was a body, a body dressed in a finder's uniform. His bottom half was removed from the top and laid on the ground in a pool of blood. The wall was splattered in blood, but was also crudely written on. In blood, it said, "You thought I was the mouse, but I am the dog. Next time we meet we'll play by my rules, love. Sincerely, Tyki." His attention turned back to her. He didn't know what to do.

Tiedoll and Marie entered the scene soon after, and though Marie could not see the situation, he knew something was wrong. Tiedoll grabbed Kanda's shoulder and ordered him to take the girl out of the room. On the rare occasion that Tiedoll actually ordered something, it was wise to listen to him. Especially when it concerned girls in unbalanced states.

"Come on." Kanda proded, attempting to gently take her arm and pull her towards him. She didn't budge and kept looking at the wall. Tiedoll sent him a look that said 'NOW', and Kanda crawled and her bed so he could scoop her up into his arms and carry her out. "Let's go." He said softly.

He took the girl to his room and set her on one of the three crammed in beds. She was white as a sheet and was slowly turning green around the cheeks. She was still crying and making rasping noises when she breathed.

"He was in my room." She mumble din almost disbelief.

"You don't know that…" Kanda tried to reason with her.

"He was in my room! He brought back my hair!" She cried and clutched herself.

"Calm down, he's not here now. I'm here, he wont get past me." Kanda said, struggling to recall what Lenalee told panicked civilians. "I'll protect you." He winced at how corny the words sounded. But they were true, he wouldn't let the Noah get what he wanted. and if that meant harming her, then he would protect her.

She looked up at him, almost disbelieving. She shook her head and folded back into herself. "I need a toilet." Quickly getting the picture, and not wanting to be subject to a vomit covered jacket again, he grabbed her arm and dragged her to the bathroom.

He held her hair back as she releaved herself, not wanting the smell of vomit to follow her. He sat on the tub and she kneeled on the ground, backing away from the toilet once she was done.

"Better now?" He asked, sounding nervous at interacting with her.

"Yeah. Why are you being so nice?" She asked, leaning her head against the outside of his knee.

"I don't know what to do when girl's cry." That made a strangled chuckle come from her chest.

"You're being nice to me so I won't cry?" He grunted in his approval. "It is not you fault that I am upset." She stiffened. A Noah wanted her dead. A Noah knew about her and wanted her dead. She was going to end up like the girl with the intestines pulled out through her mouth.

"Its okay." Kanda mumbled, hesitantly putting a hand on her head and smoothing out her hair. "Everything will be fine."

"How can you say that?" Jane sobbed, beginning to break down again.

"I just know." He replied, clearing his throat. "It's okay, Jane." His low baritone voice rumbled over the single syllable of her name. He sat there smoothing her hair, just like she had said to do. And eventually she stopped crying and fell asleep leaning against his knee.

He was glad she stopped crying, he just never knew what to do with himself when girls cried. She would be stronger tomorrow- she would be back to normal tomorrow. She would be Jane tomorrow. But then, she was just a girl crying, and with no one looking, he was just a boy trying to fix her.

* * *

Okay, so wow- I know peeps are out of character. But let me repeat- I believe in writing dynamic characters! Aka, they dont just have one emotion- Kanda is an asshole, but not 100% of the time- he can feel awkward around girl's crying and want to make them stop, he's just a boy despite his hard shell. Jane went through a lot this chapter, hence her docileness and weakness.

Dont fret, good old Kanda and Jane will be back again soon- they will be spending quiet a bit of time together^^

Please leave a review if you feel so inclined :)


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